Navigating Nursing Home Care: Stories From Residents and Family Members

Symposium Editors: James M. DuBois & Heidi A. Walsh

Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics will publish a collection of personal stories from people who can share experiences of life and care in a nursing home. This would include people who are residents of nursing homes as well as family members who have intimate first-hand knowledge of their loved one’s life in a nursing home. We are interested in stories that explore important aspects of nursing home care, such as respecting residents' independence, maintaining dignity, protecting health and safety, and ensuring quality of life. We are open to stories from people of different ages living in a variety of nations. (While we acknowledge the impact of COVID-19 on nursing homes, for this collection, we are specifically looking for narratives that address broader aspects of nursing home care unrelated to the pandemic.)

We want true, personal stories in a form that is interesting and easy to read. Please share this invitation and guide sheet with individuals who may be interested in sharing their stories.

In writing your story, consider these questions:

• What circumstances led you/your loved one to enter a nursing home?
• How would you describe the quality of nursing care provided? Feel free to share things that are positive or negative.
• How would you describe the quality of daily living, for example, food, noise levels, activities, and privacy? Again, feel free to share things that are positive or negative.
• Do you feel that efforts are made to respect your/your loved one’s dignity, independence, or choices to whatever extent possible?
• What advice would you offer to a person who is planning nursing home care for themselves or a family member?
• What advice would you offer nursing home administrators, healthcare providers, or policymakers?

You do not need to address each of these questions—write on the issues that you think are most important to share with others. If you are not a writer, tell your story in your own words and our editorial staff will help you.

If you are interested in submitting a story, we ask you first to submit a 300-word proposal—a short description of the story you want to tell. Inquiries or proposals should be sent to the editorial office via email: narrativebioethics@gmail.com. We will give preference to story proposals received by May 1, 2026. If your story is invited, we will ask you to submit it within 6 weeks of the invitation. Final stories are 4 – 10 double-spaced pages or 800 – 2000 words.

For more information about the journal Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics, the guidelines for authors, and privacy policies visit our webpage at http://nibjournal.org/submit/guidelines/

We plan to publish 12 stories on this topic in our print edition; additional stories may be published as online-only supplemental material. We also publish 3 – 4 commentary articles that discuss the stories that are published in the journal. To see a finished symposium, please visit Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics’ page on Project MUSE and click on the unlocked, open-access issue.

Narrative Inquiry in Bioethics is indexed in PubMed, MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and PhilPapers.
The journal is published by the Johns Hopkins University Press and is available in print and electronically to over 1,200 institutional subscribers via Project MUSE.