Storytelling: what can it reveal about the knowledge of mental health nursing?

Abstract

This paper uses a hermeneutic approach to examine nurses' stories as found in the literature. It raises epistemological issues surrounding questions of nursing knowledge: practical and theoretical. By examining nurses' stories holistically and selectively, the study uses a combined approach to interpretation and theme development, revealing issues, questions and themes generated by the hermeneutic process. The author suggests that revealing knowledge in this manner can support the knowledge claims of mental health nursing and provide opportunities for theory development or testing.