Creativity in nursing OBSERVATION


My freshman year was the second year of Skidmore’s introduction of its catchphrase “Creative Thought Matters.” I studied international affairs and reli- gious studies, immersing myself in issues that I felt were relevant, expansive, and timely. But creative? I wasn’t sure. It took a few years, but eventually I came to un- derstand how creativity would support the transition I made from Skidmore into an unexpected career.


I graduated during the depths of the 2008 recession, and like my fellow class- mates I made it my priority to find a job. After four years of working for a non - profit, some international travel, and contemplating what I could and should have done differently in college to better prepare myself for a career, I decided to become a nurse-midwife. The decision was as surprising to me as it was to every- one else. It was born of a desire to master the kinds of “hard skills” I never learned in a liberal arts environment, and I made the choice with a sense of conviction I didn’t quite have but aspired to. Nursing was not a field in which I ex -


pect ed to find creativity. I turned to it in search of practicality and prepared my- self for a kind of learning devoid of criti- cal thinking—very different from the learning I got at Skidmore. Two years later, I am at Yale Univer -


sity, in a large open space with parti- tioned exam rooms where we learn and practice nursing skills. Today, however, we are hand-casting— not for broken bones, but for symbolism. Plaster-based hand casting is a long-held tradition at our school: by literally solidifying


many of whom come from liberal arts backgrounds. Writing, music, and art have all been integrated into our studies, in hopes of preserv- ing the interdisci- plinary perspec- tives we bring to health care.


In the fall, our class participated in a workshop se- ries titled “Look- ing is not Seeing and Listening is not Hearing.” In the first session, small groups of students visited Yale’s Center for British Art, where we were prompted to examine paint- ings closely and practice training our eye to look for minute details that could allow us to develop a deeper


I NOW REALIZE THAT


NURSING, LIKE ANY FIELD OF STUDY THAT ONE MIGHT PURSUE AT SKIDMORE, REQUIRES CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING.


the shape of our hands, we are acknowl- edging them as our most powerful tools for healing. Yale’s graduate-entry pre-specialty nursing program incorporates a number of creative, interdisciplinary workshops into its curriculum for first-year students,


understanding of the meaning behind each painting. We were also warned against ignoring details or alternative viewpoints that did not meet our initial inferred “diagnosis” of the painting. After per- forming the exercise with a number of paintings, we were next shown photo- graphs of patients in


hospital rooms. We picked up on features that could have easily been overlooked— for example, a patient with a broken leg also demonstrated pursed-lip breathing, a sign of emphysema.


For students new to the field of nurs- ing, nothing looks familiar. I am still de-


veloping the contexts for what I observe, and it’s tempting to latch on quickly to one idea of what might be happening with a patient. But I now realize that nursing, like any field of study that one might pursue at Skidmore, requires criti- cal and creative thinking. In tapping into the kinds of skills I acquired while reading poetry in English class, I am dis- covering a whole new way of applying the creative thinking that Skidmore in- stilled in me.


For more on creative nursing pedagogy, Katie Temes ’10 recommends the article “Looking is not Seeing and Hearing is not Listening” in the July –August 2012 Nursing Educa- tion Perspectives.


BY KATIE TEMES ’10


SPRING 2015 SCOPE 5


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