Narrative approaches for research in community nursing

As community nurses become more actively involved in practice-centred enquiry, they are increasingly exploring ways of understanding the lived experience of clients. Narrative approaches are becoming particularly prominent as these methods of enquiry closely connect with the regular interactions between client and nurse. In this article the nature of narrative and its use is outlined and illustrated with an example of narrative exploration. Additionally the article identifies some of the arguments for developing narrative approaches in primary health care and concludes with some discussion on challenges in using this approach.