Personal narratives about death and dying: a case study with nursing students

Abstract

This study aimed to explore qualitatively students' meanings of a significant death or dying experience by describing the effects in the first-person: psycho-emotional and spiritual life reflections. Using a narrative-reflection approach, we performed a multiple case study. Ten nursing students from 3rd year palliative nursing course were selected based on their richeness experiences. Topics such as the timing of the death loss, the manner of death, role changes that followed after the death loss, and adjustment patterns were discussed. The role of the narrative is multi-faceted – contributing to the development of a student's identity, comfort, and help making sense of a 'senseless' event.