Labyrinth Research Bibliography
Bibliography of Articles and Studies Related to Labyrinth Research 2022 Update (.pdf 412K) - version that will be searchable on the new Labyrinth Society website
Bibliography of Studies Related to Labyrinth Research (.pdf 517K) - version in the searchable categories below
This downloadable Bibliography has all entries sorted by author. The entries in the bibliography have been categorized below by topic and also by type (doctoral dissertation, journal article etc.).
Changing directions: The lived experience of registered nurses who return to school for a baccalaureate degree in nursing
Abstract: This study is an exploration of the lived experiences of registered nurses who return to school for a baccalaureate degree in nursing. Narrative approaches such as reflective journals, autobiographies, one-on-one conversations, and a group conversation with seven registered nurses in their first semester of a RN to BS course provide text for understanding and interpretation. In this hermeneutic phenomenological inquiry, I use van Manen's (1990) framework of six research activities, grounded in the phenomenological philosophies of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger as well as others. Journey is the overarching metaphor that comes forward for students and myself as we reflect on the meanings that students make about their experiences of returning to school. Stories and literature from nursing, education, mythology, and poetry open up new ways of thinking about the lived experience. Storytelling and listening help us find our way back home to a place of belonging. Registered nurses identify themselves as feeling embarrassed, intimidated, and lonely without a baccalaureate degree. They fear failing in school and not being able to balance time among family, work, and school. Strength comes from various sources, allowing them to experience returning to school as coming home. Returning to school is a way of renewing and restoring (restory-ing) themselves. Transformation occurs for both students and teacher as we walk a labyrinth, both in class and metaphorically. The labyrinth is a tool for changing directions as we let go of the past, find illumination at the center, and exit with transformative gifts for teaching, curriculum development, and re-searching nursing education. Living with RN to BS students in the tensionality of voice and silence, expression of oppression, tact and testing, and relevance and redundancy is a way of being-in-the-world as teacher and mentor. Being with nurses who return to school for a baccalaureate degree in nursing is sharing a heroic journey of discovery.