A collaboration harnessing digital storytelling to cultivate empathy, renew purpose, and reinforce resilience in nurses and nurse educators, strengthening the region’s healthcare system.
The Nurse Narratives Initiative (NNI) brings together Ballad Health, the Tennessee Center for Nursing Advancement, the ETSU College of Nursing, StoryCollab, and the ETSU Research Corporation to elevate empathy, resilience, and connection across the nursing profession.
Through digital storytelling workshops, reflection sessions, and curricular innovation, the initiative creates spaces where nurses, students, faculty, and patients can share lived experiences. These stories illuminate the emotional realities of care and remind healthcare providers of the humanity at the center of their work.
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StoryCollab brings years of trauma-informed facilitation and deep expertise in collaborative storytelling. Our approach provides safe, structured environments—both online and in person—where participants can process experiences of stress and trauma while discovering vicarious resilience through the voices of their peers.
At the heart of the initiative is the belief that listening to real stories—from both caregivers and patients—can transform healthcare culture and improve patient outcomes. Research shows that first-person narratives build empathy, reduce burnout, and improve retention, creating a more compassionate and sustainable nursing workforce.
The collaboration has produced several significant deliverables:
Workshops and Reflective Sessions that encourage deep listening and shared understanding.
Curriculum Integration of empathy-centered storytelling and journaling across nursing programs.
A Documentary Film, NURSE: Empathy Heals, showcasing Ballad Health nurses and promoting the profession’s purpose-driven heart.
Story Library and Multimedia Content to support education, recruitment, and community engagement.
