Authors

  1. Diamond, Lisa K. DNP, FNP-C

Article Content

A common theme in nurse practitioner (NP) self-reflections is lack of confidence; the imposter syndrome is a frequent lament. NP students struggle to navigate living in the novice role after being experts in their RN positions. The emotional issues during this transition can take a toll and erode self-confidence. Art allows NP students another outlet for these feelings. For their final reflection in a diagnosis and management course, learners were instructed to utilize any artistic expression to showcase their feelings about their new role transition. This allowed learners to articulate insight into how this experience fostered growth as a provider and reflecting on their emotions at the beginning of the semester to terms end. To accompany their artistic pieces, learners wrote a 100-to 200-word abstract explaining their creative process and rationale for their artistic choice. This assignment is reviewed at the beginning of the semester so that they can begin to think about what artistic expression they will employ to showcase their journey at the end of the course. The variety of artistic representations students utilized was impressive. Painting, poetry, essays, song writing, cooking/baking, flower arranging, gardening, and photo collages are some examples of modalities they chose to express how far they had grown throughout the semester and ways their confidence had improved. Art pedagogy is a creative mode for self-expression while managing stress as NP students to build confidence in their new roles.