Donna Frost

Chapter 6 206 able to recognise and describe the change that has taken place. See Figure 6 . 12 for some examples. The first three statements in this figure are explanations given by particular residents or patients, having chosen association cards (Fontys Knowledge Centre, 2008 ) to help in giving words to their ideas about how their viewpoint or feeling about their situation had changed. The text box at the bottom contains examples of statements made by residents (x 2 ), patients (x 2 ) and a family member, and entered by RN and NP inquiry members into field notes. Figure 6 . 12 Enlarging the space for becoming: patients and residents expressing a changed perspective These residents and patients are not only describing how they would now react to a similar situation should it present itself again. They describe how their outlook has changed in general. The space within which they experience themselves as having influence and being able to act has been enlarged. That is the case for all the examples shared in this chapter: Wendy’s patient starting hormone therapy for metastasized prostate cancer; Ms C being taken seriously as a partner in thediagnosticprocess byMargaret;Annahelpingherpatient toexperience being ‘in the now’; Mara helping a new resident’s spouse to work through his feelings about shared responsibility for his wife’s safety; Floortje choosing to focus on listening to a client’s plans instead of trying to avoid him making a complaint; Pieter supporting Mrs D in the aftermath of her son’s death; Mara encouraging her patient to catch his breath and try again. Each of these people left the encounter with an expanded range of possibilities and they credited the nurse involved for helping them get there.