Creative Nursing

In Creative Nursing 2026, we explore the multifaceted relationship between nursing and sociology, a field rich with opportunities for critical analysis and theoretical development. Our first two issues represent distinct yet interconnected approaches that illuminate the social dimensions of health, illness, and health-care delivery. This first issue, Sociology of Nursing, focuses on the nursing profession itself as a social phenomenon, examining nursing's professionalization process and its position within the broader health-care system. Different facets of soft skills in nursing care, and caring as a foundational component of human survival, as well as the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, are strongly present in this journal issue.

Using her personal experience as a Registered Nurse, the author reflects on her decision to study sociology for master's education. The article draws on Why is Thinking Sociologically Important for Nursing, by Gulbu Tanriverdi to discuss two points of application, and how the decision to study sociology was the result of her work as a Registered Nurse in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Nursing advocacy has emerged as a foundational pillar of modern nursing practice, reflecting the profession's ethical commitment to protecting patient rights, promoting health equity, and shaping health policy. Despite its significance, advocacy remains inconsistently practiced due to barriers at the individual, interpersonal, and systemic levels. This article synthesizes current literature to analyze the evolution, conceptual foundations, challenges, and impact of advocacy as a core professional responsibility in nursing. Findings reveal that while advocacy is strongly supported by ethical codes and professional frameworks, its practical implementation is often hindered by bureaucratic structures, fear of retaliation, limited institutional support, communication barriers, and workload pressures. Strategies such as enhanced education, policy empowerment, organizational culture reform, and interprofessional collaboration are essential to strengthen advocacy in clinical and policy settings. There is a need for a renewed commitment to empowering nurses to advocate in this increasingly complex health-care environment. Future studies should emphasize sustainable advocacy frameworks that enhance nurses’ and midwives’ influence on health-care system transformation.

Background: Most professions in which human interactions are essential for successful job performance require both soft and hard skills. Integrating these two concepts has synergistic job output, yet there are barriers to nurse educators and nurse clinicians integrating soft skills. This study identified and described barriers to integrating soft skills in nursing education and patient care. Methods: In this qualitative descriptive study, 27 professional nurses and midwives in three different regions of Ghana completed semi-structured interviews. Data from the interviews were analyzed using inductive dominating content analysis. Findings: Three themes related to barriers were identified. Systemic barriers denoted institutional challenges, including unstructured curricula, that hindered the effective incorporation of soft skills into nursing. Interpersonal barriers denoted barriers arising from individuals’ inability to connect and communicate. Personal barriers pertained to nurses’ and midwives’ difficulties relating to clients and students’ lack of attentiveness in the classroom. Conclusion: Notwithstanding the significance of soft skills in nursing care, the identified barriers have hindered nurse educators and clinicians from employing them. Nurse educators are urged to engage with students as junior colleagues and exemplify the principles they impart, while nurse clinicians are recommended to interact and connect with their clients compassionately.

Despite longstanding recognition of their value, soft skills have been historically undervalued in nursing education compared to technical clinical competencies. The COVID-19 pandemic created a unique shift in nursing education, requiring periods of online instructional delivery that highlighted student needs for soft skills development. This article explores how an undergraduate community nursing simulation course adapted to a remote, discussion-based format during the pandemic, providing an unexpected but powerful space to cultivate essential soft skills. We use reflective observations to identify challenges in areas such as person-centered care, emotional sensitivity, accessible communication, and receiving feedback. The experience highlighted the need to rebalance curricula to more deliberately integrate soft skills development alongside technical training. Recommendations include suggestions for structuring simulations, utilizing standardized patients, and tailoring feedback to foster a resilient, communicative, and well-rounded nursing workforce.

This essay, originally given as a speech at the University of Minnesota School of Nursing commencement ceremony in December 2025, addresses the perception of “soft” skills, specifically in nursing.

This study explores the emotional and ethical dimensions of nursing practice through poetic inquiry. Drawing on 42 publicly accessible poems authored by nurses during and after the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the research investigates how verse serves as a medium for reflection, resistance, and relational meaning-making in clinical contexts. The central aim was to identify recurring themes that capture the affective labor, moral dilemmas, identity formation, and small triumphs experienced by nurses in their day-to-day practice. Using a six-phase thematic poetic analysis grounded in arts-based and interpretivist methodologies, the study employed purposive and snowball sampling to curate a diverse poetic corpus from blogs, social media, and online literary platforms. Poems were coded inductively using NVivo 12 software, preserving their literary integrity while surfacing thematic patterns. Four major themes emerged: Emotional Labor and Compassion Fatigue, Moral Courage and Ethical Conflict, Identity and Vocational Calling, and Small Triumphs and Healing Moments. Each theme revealed a dynamic spectrum of both emotional burden and resilience, underscoring the multidimensional nature of caregiving. The findings demonstrate that poetry enables nurses to bear witness to their lived realities in ways that traditional research tools often fail to capture. Poetic inquiry contributes to narrative ethics, reflective practice, and humanistic nursing education by legitimizing emotional knowledge and offering expressive space for what is often unspeakable in clinical settings. This study invites educators, practitioners, and policymakers to consider poetry not merely as a creative outlet but as a rigorous qualitative method that deepens understanding of the interior landscapes of care.

This descriptive-analytical cross-sectional study investigated the relationship between self-efficacy and self-reported caring behaviors of 198 nurses working in intensive care units of hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Tehran, Iran in 2023. The tools used were a Sociodemographic Information Form, the Nursing Profession Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Caring Behaviors Inventory. In the multiple linear regression model, the support situation subscale of self-efficacy was significantly associated with the total caring behavior scores of nurses (β = 1.9, 95% CI = 1.74–2.07, p = 0.001). In the multiple linear regression model, 70% of the variance in caring behaviors among nurses was explained (R² = 0.73). By recognizing the role of social support in fostering nurses’ confidence and competence, healthcare organizations can implement targeted interventions to promote a supportive work environment and enhance patient care outcomes.

Background: Nursing was critical to global health care delivery during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurses everywhere experienced an extreme tension between public appreciation and personal distress. These experiences are ubiquitous in nursing research conducted across the world between 2020 and 2022. Despite holding profound value for future clinicians, policymakers, and wider society, these stories already appear absent in the collective memory. Review Question: To synthesize available qualitative and quantitative research about nurses’ experiences of resilience, challenge, and change during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic. Type of Review: Mixed-methods systematic review. Methods: The review followed a convergent integrated approach with multiple reviewers involved at each stage. Results: A total of 59 studies were eligible for analysis. Coding of results revealed a similarity to Maslow's expanded hierarchy of needs, which was used as a framing device for findings. The greater portion of recorded experiences expressed needs for safety, belonging, and esteem. Conclusions: The findings contained common and conflicting stories. Taken as a whole, the nursing experience during early COVID represents a powerful, compassionate counter-narrative to contemporary political dystopianism. Implications: Nurses need to leverage their critical importance to health-care delivery for improved work security, sociocultural recognition, and political influence.

Background: Patient advocacy is a duty for professional nurses; however, not all nurses are empowered to advocate for meeting patients’ needs. Participation in labor unions may serve as a venue for nurses with limited institutional decision-making authority to advocate for patient needs; however, unionization can be a time-intensive and fraught process. Purpose: This study examined how nurses participating in a new union in an urban United States hospital described their reasons for participating in a labor union during collective bargaining. Methods: Content analysis of participant's interviews that took place between January and March 2023, after the nurses voted to unionize and collective bargaining had commenced but progress had stalled, and before additional actions (e.g., informational picketing, labor strikes) were authorized by union members. Findings: Content analysis generated three themes: (a) systemic barriers to advocacy, (b) unionization as an advocacy method, and (c) professional empowerment through unionization. Nurses in this study perceived barriers to meeting patient care needs that were insufficiently addressed prior to unionization. They described their motivation to participate in the union due to their desire to advocate despite adversity and finding empowerment through union activities. Implications for Practice: This study highlights the need for equity in decision-making authority and greater opportunities for nurses to effect workplace changes.

Background: Job persistence among nurses is essential for optimal, safe functioning of the health-care system. Though the acute effects of the COVID-19 pandemic have abated, first-year nurse turnover remains high. Purpose: To determine the best ways to encourage new nurses to stay in their positions, we must first understand why they are leaving. Methods: We did a multi-state survey of RNs newly licensed in 2021 about their perceptions of patient safety culture, grit (the combination of passion and perseverance), professional satisfaction, and intention to leave during their first year of practice. Conclusions: Half of the respondents left their first position during the first year. Perceptions of patient safety, grit, and levels of professional satisfaction were significantly correlated with turnover intention. Implications for Practice: Both health-care and academic institutions must create cultures in which new nurses feel safe, supported, able to give quality patient care, and able to communicate openly.

Background: The education of preceptors, who support novice nurses in adapting to the workplace and developing their practical skills, is an important topic. Lack of preceptor preparation is an issue. Purpose: Investigate the specific content of preceptors’ metacognition in novice nurse instruction. Methods: A qualitative descriptive design involving semi-structured interviews with 15 preceptors at four hospitals in Japan. Preceptors were asked to explain their own behaviors, thoughts, and feelings in a typical instructional episode. A verbatim transcription was analyzed by qualitative content analysis. Results: Three categories were identified from the preceptors’ responses: Monitoring of Instruction, Regulation of Instruction, and Self-Assessment. All preceptors described using metacognition. Conclusions: Metacognition is useful for improving preceptors’ instructional approaches and for their own development. In order to ensure good instruction of novice nurses, preceptors should consider themselves and their instruction abilities objectively before, during, and after the instruction process, and adapt to the situation. These findings provide important insights for preceptor development programs internationally.

Background: Nursing education enhances knowledge and skills, fostering the development of nurses into highly competent professionals. Clinical Instructors (CIs) play a crucial role in bridging university education and real-world clinical experiences and are responsible for facilitating learning in clinical practice. Aim: To explore the perceived barriers and facilitators encountered by CIs in supervising nursing students during clinical placements. Method: An exploratory-descriptive qualitative design was adopted. Data were collected through two focus groups with CIs at the Istituto di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) National Cancer Institute Foundation of Milan, and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Twelve CIs participated. The analysis generated six themes; three themes (Mentorship, Relationships and Learning Processes, and Improvement of Learning Processes) represented facilitators and three (From Boomers to Zoomers, Aspects of Crisis within the Profession, and Managing Student Learning) represented barriers. The categorization into barriers and facilitators was applied after theme generation to facilitate interpretation. Conclusion: Findings indicate that facilitators promote a supportive learning environment, while barriers hinder the effectiveness of clinical education. Strengthening academic-clinical collaboration, expanding CI training, and enhancing mentorship programs may help improve clinical supervision. Future research should explore collaboratively developed tools and feedback processes between academic and clinical settings to better support CIs.

Background: At the 69th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations (UN), a call was made for a 10-year global recognition of the contributions given by Black communities in sustaining a thriving global economy (UN, 2014). The historical lack of acknowledgment of these contributions has led the UN to extend this time of recognition. In collaboration with a nursing institution and a Black scholarship institution, the preservation of the roles of retired Black nurses as agents of change was reborn through a celebratory event that would showcase their contributions and influence on current change. Aim: This event demonstrated the relevance of intergenerational relationships to enhance a deeper understanding of Black Canadian nurses working within Canada's health care. Method: Through intergenerational dialogs, retired nurses, current practicing nurses, and student nurses shared their experiences using oral traditions of storytelling, making it a powerful strategy in shaping the future of nursing. The event provided qualitative insights into their lived experiences to an audience of more than 150 people, encompassing three generations. Results: Informed by Black feminist thought, this event demonstrated how, despite the challenges faced, Black nurses foster an agency of building community capacity and community resilience while nurturing community solidarity. Conclusion: This article shares key features of the event and demonstrates how partnering with Schools of Nursing and Black scholarship institutions can give birth to a flourishing health-care system that can aid in dismantling anti-Black racism while promoting care ethics through intergenerational dialogs. This article also uses art illustrations to demonstrate the celebration of the multifaceted roles the retired nurses depict as what is commonly referred to as “Community Other Mothers.”

Background: Atrial fibrillation (AF) affects approximately 2% of the population globally. Patients with AF often lack knowledge about the disease and its symptoms, leading to uncertainty about when to seek medical attention. Lack of knowledge may negatively impact several aspects of daily living. AF treatment is complex and requires a high degree of medical adherence to prevent complications and poor health-related quality of life. Aim: The aim of this study was to gain increased knowledge of how patients with AF experience their encounters with health-care professionals. Method: We conducted a qualitative study with a phenomenological–hermeneutical approach. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews and analyzed with systematic text condensation. Findings: Five women and five men with a mean age of 59.9 years and varying types of AF were included. The analysis resulted in four themes: 1. Balancing life with AF, 2. uncertainty as a companion in contacts with the hospital, 3. need to understand what is wrong with me, and 4. putting the heart in the right hands. Those patients with severe symptoms of AF wished to keep in contact with the hospital specialists to help feel less uncertainty. Across the participants, there was a trend toward reduced social and physical activity as a strategy to avoid provoking AF. Conclusion: Individualized patient education and access to health specialists play a critical role in how patients experience their capabilities in managing the challenges of everyday life with AF and persistent AF symptoms.

Background: This study conducted at the Institute of Medical Sciences and Sum Hospital in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India aimed to assess the occurrence of and risk factors for phlebitis with use of peripheral intravenous cannulas (PIVCs) among postoperative patients. Methods and Materials: A prospective cohort study design involved a purposive sample of 330 postoperative patients aged 18 or older with peripheral intravenous cannula-associated phlebitis (PICP) who were admitted to the male and female surgical wards. Data collected included patient demographics, medical diagnoses, admission details, and PICP characteristics. Observations using the visual infusion phlebitis (VIP) scale were conducted at 96-hr intervals to monitor PICP complications. Result: There was a suggestive association between PICP scores and cannula indwelling time, dressing material, and the presence of HIV/AIDS. Findings suggest that patients with compromised immune systems require specialized care strategies to minimize complications associated with the use of PICPs. Conclusion: The results of this study could enhance nurses’ preparedness to prevent and to promptly treat PICPs, reducing costs and patient discomfort by identifying complications and risk factors.

Aim: Fever is a common symptom in children. However, nurses’ and parents’ knowledge regarding fever management is lower than expected. This study was conducted to develop a pediatric fever management program for nursing students in a pediatric internship course. Method: A complex mixed-methods study with four phases: Qualitative phase, developing a pediatric fever management plan, teaching it to nursing students, and interviewing students and parents of children with fevers who were hospitalized in the pediatrics unit, about the plan. Questionnaire development phase, designing a questionnaire to evaluate the opinions of students regarding the fever management plan. Quantitative phase, administering the questionnaire to nursing students. Mixed-methods phase, integrating and interpreting the qualitative and quantitative results. Findings: Three themes were identified: improving self-management ability, behavior change, and improving practices. Most participants completely agreed that the fever management plan paid enough attention to parents’ needs, led to practice modifications and behavioral changes in parents, and was satisfactory. Conclusion and Implications for Practice: A pediatric fever management plan improved the knowledge, self-management ability, and practices of nursing students and parents of children with fevers. Health-care managers can use these results to enhance the quality of care provided for children with fevers.

Background: Early mobilization in the intensive care unit (ICU) is crucial for preventing complications; however, barriers to interprofessional information sharing can hinder its effectiveness. Objective: This qualitative descriptive study aimed to identify barriers to interprofessional information sharing in ICUs, focusing on early mobilization. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 ICU physicians, nurses, and physiotherapists in two Japanese hospitals. Results: Six categories and 15 sub-categories involving barriers were identified. Categories were Inter-Professional Discussions, Recording Systems, Operationalizing Objective Evaluation Criteria, Understanding Other Professions, Differences in Terminology among Professions, and Staff Placement. Conclusions: Clinicians recognized barriers to information sharing about early mobilization in ICUs. Clear evaluation criteria, better accessibility of patient records, standardized record formats, and common language fostered through education can enhance collaboration and improve patient outcomes.

This editorial introduces a series on “Critical Approaches for Nursing Research,” aiming to promote health equity research by challenging conventional approaches that may reinforce structural inequality. Critical research, which questions objectivity claims and exposes the socio-historical nature of knowledge, remains underutilized in nursing. This first editorial in the series specifically provides an overview of CritQuant (Critical Quantitative) inquiry, outlining its core principles and key methodological strategies. The next editorials in this series will focus on critical qualitative research, critical mixed methods research, and queer methods.