The nurse and the use of narrative: an approach to caring.

The use by the nurse of the principles of narrative therapy to help patients re-author their personal narrative, and change it from a problem-saturated story to one that is more preferred, is explored. Three main narrative techniques: deconstruction, externalization and re-authoring are described. Examples of these techniques are provided to help nurses at all levels of nursing practice assume the role of collaborator in the re-authoring process.