“Too Good to be True? No!” Exploring Self, Incorporating a Quick and Easy Reflective Writing Exercise that Anyone Can Do (TH339)

Abstract

•Identify innate qualities of Self, such as feelings, beliefs, expectations, values, and yearnings, and how they relate to how we define ourselves.•Construct a self-reflective and insightful 6-10 word phrase.•Integrate a brief mindfulness exercise into clinical practice and teaching to improve individual and team well-being, resiliency, compassion, and hope and minimize burnout and compassion fatigue. Narrative medicine is defined as clinical practice strengthened by the ability to “recognize, absorb, interpret, and honor the stories of self and other.”[1] In the form of reflective writing, it has been shown to help healthcare providers improve critical thinking, understanding of self, cultural humility, and psychological resilience, as well as to better connect with each other, their patients, and their families.[2,3,4] But reflective writing can feel intimidating or overwhelming to clinicians who have never had any formal experience or training in writing or the reflective practices. We will set the expectation for self-contemplation by reading a poem, completing a mindfulness exercise, and then examining the deeper structures of our coping stances. We will explore our feelings, beliefs, perceptions, expectations, values, and yearnings as they all make up our sense of self. Participants will engage in an innovative self-reflective writing exercise that anyone can adopt and gain insight from, whether professional writer or novice learner. It begins with pen to paper and, through a distillation process, culminates in a 6-10 word revelation. The exercise becomes one of purification, where the result is a precise truth or an unveiled discovery. [5][1]Miller E, Balmer D, Hermann N, Graham G, Charon, R. Sounding Narrative Medicine: Studying Students’ Professional Identity Development at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Acad Med 2014;89:335-342.[2]Schuessler JB, Wilder B, Byrd LW. Reflective journaling and development of cultural humility in students. Nurs Educ Perspect 2012;33:96-99.[3]Sexton JD, Pennebaker JW, Holzmueller CG, et al. Care for the cargiver: benefits of expressive writing for nurses in the United States. Prog Palliat Care 2013;17:307-312.[4]Sewell E. Journaling as a mechanism to facilitate graduate nurses’ role transition. J Nurses Staff Develop 2008;24:49-52.[5]Forner, Kristin. “Finding Meaning in Stream of Consciousness.” Mending the Fractured Story. March 2018. https://mendingthe-fracturedstory.weebly.com/blog