Donna Frost

Chapter 7 214 Data were generated and analysed with respect to my facilitation, as initiating researcher, of the investigation of professional artistry within both the RN and NP inquiry groups. Collaborative data generation and meaning making occurred in both groups not only with respect to the nature of professional artistry but also with respect to its development. Within the RN group this was generally retrospective; reflecting on experiences in which data collection was initially focused on uncovering the nature of professional artistry and considering the data in the light of questions directed at the facilitation of professional artistry. The inquiry process itself, includingmy facilitation of the process, was regularly evaluated and examined in relation to the facilitation of the development of professional artistry. Within the NP inquiry we actively investigated the ways in which our professional artistrywas developing, howwe helped each other to develop it, the strategies that we individually and collaboratively valued in nurturing professional artistry in our practice, and how the context of the CCCI inquiry supported us in this activity. We generateddata about opportunities, bothmissed and taken, for helpingpractitioners outside our inquiry to develop their professional artistry. At the conclusion of the NP inquiry we were all co-inquirers into the nature of professional artistry and co- inquirers into and co-facilitators of the development of professional artistry in our own and each other’s nursing and facilitation practice. In the following sections, ‘we’ refers to the members of both inquiry groups unless otherwise noted. Although most of the intentionally generated data concerning the facilitation of professional artistry were collected within the NP inquiry, synthesis after the inquiry groups had ceased to meet made clear that the findings were present and applicable within both inquiry groups: in the RN inquiry much of the information about facilitation of the development of professional artistrywas implicit until reconsidered in the light of the collaboratively generated insights within the NP inquiry. Some of the data is presented as poems. Unless otherwise stated, these poems have been constructed by me using the words of participants and to convey the essence of the meaning of much longer conversations and dialogue (cf. Janesick, 2016 ). Journey as metaphor: milestones and challenges The essence of facilitating the development of professional artistry is helping professionals to identify and capture the professional artistry within their practice, come to understand it in a holistic way and become more intentional about working in this way, increasingly able to positively influence their own and other’s practice.