Storytelling: its place in infection control education

Abstract

It is generally accepted that hand hygiene is the single most effective measure to prevent health care associated infection. Similarly, education is thought to be the cornerstone of effective practice. While common sense supports the notion that hand hygiene compliance would be enhanced by producing a well informed health care worker, traditional didactic methods of teaching are often poor at invoking and sustaining behaviour change. Storytelling is gaining popularity as an educational activity as it is said to stimulate thought, reflection and enhance the learning experience. This paper, describes one way in which storytelling may be used within a hand hygiene improvement strategy.

Young people’s views on sharing health-related stories on the Internet

“…In line with previous research, storytelling has been increasingly used in a variety of ways in nursing and medical education to stimulate thinking and enhance learning outcomes (e.g. Davidhizar & Lonser 2003, D'Alessandro et al 2004, Hunter 2008, Kieser et al 2008, Cole 2009).…”

Core story creation: analysing narratives to construct stories for learning

“…As a result, qualitative research of this nature is considered appropriate when research seeks to discover an in-depth understanding of individuals' lived experiences and is valued as an approach in health research when we seek to explore and understand the patient experience (Petty, 2016 a & b). One way of course to do so is to listen to patient stories which have been shown to elicit thought, reflection and enhance the learning experience in relation to humanistic understanding (Cole, 2009). Frank (2013) , in an account of his own illness aimed to amplify and connect voices that told stories about suffering, offering the health professional a view from the patient's perspective.…”

Hand hygiene knowledge and attitudes: comparisons between student nurses

“…It is therefore important that practitioners are provided with appropriate education, training and support to enhance knowledge, understanding and skills in order to increase the safety and quality of care delivered to patients (Infection Prevention Society, 2011). It is widely acknowledged that hand hygiene education is the cornerstone of effective practice (Cole, 2009a). Ensuring that hand hygiene education and training is effective is especially important within higher education institutes (HEIs), where students are initially exposed to the techniques and to the underpinning evidence for effective hand hygiene.…”