My Teenage Personal Illness Experience

By Sophia Aksenchuk

Building on Dewey's philosophy of experience, our personal and professional lived

experiences are mutually informing. Thus, personal illness experiences may impact how we

engage in professional roles. In this self-study, using Connelly and Clandinin's Narrative

Inquiry, I explore my experience of an eating disorder as an adolescent, and how this experience

informs my nursing practice today. I crafted stories of my illness experience often using poetic

prose. I analyzed these using the three levels of justification (personal, practical, social) through

the theoretical lens of Erikson's psychosocial stages of development. Four narrative threads

(impulsivity: response to losing control, lack of autonomy, liminality, lack of meaningful

relationships) emerged and coalesced into three narrative patterns (control, belonging, identity).

This self-study provides healthcare professionals an understanding of the impact a stigmatized

illness may have on one's professional role. My intention is to inspire others to enter their own

inquiry into their experiences of illness.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1835205593
• ISBN13: 9781835205594
• Release Date: August 2023
• Publisher: Awasthihb
• Length: 122 Pages
• Weight: 0.38 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"