Jordon D. Bosse, PhD, RN (he/him)
DIGITAL STORYTELLING PROJECT
Trans and Nonbinary Nurses' Workplace Experiences
Why are you doing this project?
Transgender and nonbinary nurses are practically invisible in most nursing literature. We want to learn more about what it means for you to be a nurse and what your workplace experiences have been like in relation to your gender identity and/or expression.
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What will I be asked to do?
You will be asked to take part in a workshop with small group (5-7) other transgender and nonbinary nurses. In the workshop you'll write and develop a digital story.
The workshop will last about 15-18 hours and spread over a series of days in a way that works for the participants. For example, we could meet a few hours a week for a number of weeks, a few half-days on a couple of weekends, or some combination of the two. At the end of the workshop, we will celebrate the journey by screening your completed stories with other participants.
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As a thank you for your time and participation, we can offer you $60 for meeting each of four digital story creation milestones: writing your story, recording your story, drafting your digital story, sharing your final story.
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What is a digital story?
Digital stories are short (3-4 minutes) first-person, multi-media stories that often include voice, still images, audio and/or video clips as a means of telling the story. The power of digital stories is their ability to connect the viewer with the storyteller. For some examples of digital stories created by nurses, check out the NurStory Project.
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What will my story be about?
That is totally up to you. We'll have some writing prompts about nursing, work, and identity broadly to get folks thinking, but where it goes from there is your choice. We find the story that comes up is the one that needs to be told. For many folks, the story itself, and the meaning they make of it shifts in the process of developing it, and that's totally okay, too. Others come in with a specific story idea and stick with it. That works, too. It's a journey we'll go on together. We're here to guide the process/help you get to whatever destination you choose.
What's in it for me, as a participant?
1. Some people find that telling their story and being heard is helpful (and we hope you will, too!)
2. You will have a digital story that you can keep and use however you'd like.
3. You will learn new skills in developing in creating a digital story using digital tools that are available for free. You could create other stories if you wanted.
4. If you decide to share your story outside the workshop (more on that below), you might find feel good knowing that sharing your story could be helping others.
What if I don't consider myself "a writer" or "creative"?
That's okay. Prior experience not necessary. We believe everyone has a story! The workshop facilitators, Jordon & Raeann, and participants will work together to identify and develop story ideas with feedback throughout the entire process (writing, recording, adding images/other media). As we mentioned, your story is just that-- yours. Whether or how you decide to incorporate feedback is completely up to you.
How comfortable do I have to be with technology?
We'll teach you how to use all of the video conferencing and storytelling tools step-by-step and be available for 1:1 support along the way -- both during workshops and in between workshop times through virtual 'office hours'.
How kind of access do I need to technology?
Most of the tools we use are cloud-based, so it's helpful to have a strong Internet connection.
Who are the faciliatators?
We are both members of the members of, and allies to, the LGBTQIA+ communities. We think it is important to highlight the strengths and contributions of the LGBTQIA+ communities.
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We are both trained in facilitating digital story telling (DST) workshops by The StoryCenter and incorporate digital stories in our classroom teaching. We frequently collaborate on projects related to social justice and nursing.
Jordon D. Bosse, PhD, RN
(he/him)
Mental health nurse and nurse researcher. Excited for the opportunity to center the voices of trans and nonbinary nurses.
Raeann G. LeBlanc
PhD, DNP, AGPCNP-BC, CHPN
(they/them)
Nurse practitioner and nurse researcher with experience facilitating digital stories with nurses around the US through the NurStory Project.
Seedworks Endowed Clinical Associate Professor
Elaine Marieb College of Nursing
University of Massachusetts
We are both members of the members of, and allies to, the LGBTQIA+ communities. We think it is important to highlight the strengths and contributions of the LGBTQIA+ communities.
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We are both trained in facilitating digital story telling (DST) workshops by The StoryCenter and incorporate digital stories in our classroom teaching. We frequently collaborate on projects related to social justice and nursing.
What's in it for you, the facilitators?
We both love facilitating stories and getting to know participants. This specific digital storytelling workshop is part of a larger project Dr. Bosse and Dr. Leblanc are collaborating on called Reckoning with Nurses In/Actions That May Contribute to Health and Health Disparities Among LGBTQIA+ Populations. The overall purpose of this project, in the long run, to create an educational workshop for nurses, nursing students and faculty, and other healthcare providers. We have seen the ways that digital stories open people's hearts and can help change their minds.
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Ultimately, we will ask you if it's okay to use the digital story you create as part of an educational workshop. However, you don't have to decide whether you want to share your story until after it's created.
If you do decide to share your story outside of the initial workshop, you will be able to give specific permission for when and how your story is used. We'll also give you the opportunity to collaborate on how your story is incorporated as a teaching/learning opportunity (e.g. developing discussion questions).
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We will also ask for your permission to reach out to you in the future to take part in an interview about your experience of developing your story.
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In this first workshop series, we will learn about how the workshop timing and delivery worked and identify challenges we might not have anticipated so we can improve the process for the next workshop series-- with trans and nonbinary folks creating stories about healthcare experiences from the patient perspective.
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The Reckoning project is funded through a Fellowship in the Humanities Center and a small grant from the Institute for Health Equity and Social Justice Research, at Northeastern University.
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