Donna Frost

22 What does it mean, to be a nurse? What stories do we tell? Which are heard? This thesis explores the concept of professional artistry in nursing practice. In particular, as it was uncovered and understood by nursing professionals working in hospital and long term care settings in the Netherlands. Eleven nurses and nurse practitioners researched their practice, and specifically their professional artistry, in two collaborative inquiry groups. I was a member of both groups as a nurse researcher, in the beginning as initiating inquirer and group facilitator, and later as co-inquirer and co-facilitator. The stories, findings and implications of those investigations are presented here. Although the research focuses on the concept of professional artistry within nursing practice, the thesis and the research also verymuch reflect my own journey towards understanding my motivations and interests as a professional (nurse, nurse lecturer and nurse researcher), learning to recognise and nurture my own professional artistry, and learning to understand, accept and ultimately engage with myway of being in the world. As well, this thesis contributes to understandings of how collaborative inquiry into embodied practices can be ethically and rigorously realised in the midst of busy clinical practice and how it contributes to the professional and personal development of those involved. This work begins with an account of my reasons for focusing on the concept of professional artistry within nursing. The intention is to make explicit those factors that may have influenced my understanding of nursing and professional artistry in my research work. The chapter continues into an overview of previous research in which professional artistry has been investigated and makes the case for a collaborative approach to this study. After presentation of the research questions guiding this study an overview of the structure of the thesis is given. Why professional artistry? I am a nurse. These days I am also a nurse researcher and nurse lecturer, but my professional identity is anchored in nursing. Nursing remains the discipline I most identifywith, am proud of and wish to contribute to. As with most disciplines there is no single story that captures the essence of nursing, no single story which nursing tells about itself or which is told about it as a profession. I play a part in a number of stories about nursing.