Discourse analysis (DA) has frequently been misapplied within nursing research, demonstrating a lack of understanding among some nurse researchers of theoretical/ methodological approaches within DA. To date, there are few specific nursing examples illustrating the application of DA, which presents a further obstacle for the new researcher. In this paper, Jim Campbell and Sheila Arnold outline a specific nursing example of DA research and describe the process of applying DA to nursing research via the personal experiences of the authors. Two different ways of 'coming to' a DA approach, will be described, one using a structured framework and the other a personal narrative.