Case histories in the education of advanced practice nurses.

Case histories--rich, anecdotal narratives--are theorized to support the acquisition of cognitive, social, cultural, and emotional knowledge and motor skills through active learning. This manuscript focuses on the value of case histories in teaching and evaluating acute and critical care advanced practice nursing students. Information about the use of case histories in advanced critical care education and clinical practice is limited. Case histories support student-centered learning and development of clinical reasoning. An exemplar of a case history is provided, and application of case histories to both electronic and classroom settings is explored.