Donna Frost

Chapter 8 268 particular knowledge that was generated and the contexts in which it could be useful; gaining experience and confidence as a facilitator and becoming effective at moving towards mutual, collaborative investigation. Another indicator of the integration of the methodological principles in the doing of the research was the involvement of the NPI members in observing each other in practice and completing the practice loop of the inquiry cycle, independently of me. At the end of the NPI inquiry more than half of the practice observation episodes had been instigated and carried out by the nurse practitioner members of the inquiry group. As well, independently of me they had experimented with changing the lemniscate process; omitting the creative response, for example. Noting that their reflective and inquiry processes were much less effective without this step, they reintroduced it, thereby coming to value critical and creative ways of knowing and being through their own experience of them. In this way the development of structures to embed creativity and cognitive and artistic critique within the process of the inquiry is demonstrated, as is the overcoming of conscious and subconscious barriers to the use of creativitywithinwork settings and as part of research activities. Various forms of triangulation lent particular strength to this inquiry: triangulation of research methods, ways of knowing, sources of data and of researchers themselves. Each of the patterns of engagement within professional artistry was illuminated, for example, from various perspectives and was evident in the nursing work of each participant. The insights pertaining to the facilitation of professional artistry, originally explicated within the NPI, were also recognisable within the RNI and resonated with the embodied experiences of the RNI members. Furthermore, my prolonged engagement with both the RNI and the NPI, combined with the CCCI design, enabled thorough and iterative research procedures, testing out of developing ideas and contestation of conclusions. The challenge of keeping the momentum of the inquiry going over a long period of time, alongside busy personal and professional lives, was resolved. Creating the conditions for human flourishing for those participating in the inquiry has been demonstrated by the findings from both the RNI and NPI, particularly those relating to the facilitation of the development of professional artistry in Chapter 7 , and by the examples given of coming to individualized consent with participants at the periphery of the inquiry. Contributing to this aspect of the study was the congruence evident between the ways in which my supervisors worked with me and the ways in which I worked with inquiry participants, and in turn, with people at the edges of the inquiry.