Creating a Quilt: An Aesthetic Expression of Caring for Nursing Students

Abstract

An assignment for beginning nursing students provides the milieu for reflection on a nursing situation, appreciation of a caring relationship between the nurse and nursed, and expression of the caring through an aesthetic project. Each student represented a unique situation on a square, and the squares were sewn together to form a quilt. The quilt is apprehended as a whole but closer scrutiny reveals squares of many colors that have been sewn together. The distinct squares represent the work of students and teachers on a journey of understanding. Each of the squares reveals a unique story of caring from nursing practice. The aesthetic project provides the opportunity for the individual and collective experience of caring as the students share their stories of caring with each other and the larger community of nurses.