Donna Frost

Concept analysis 49 2 2006 ). Nevertheless, practice that demonstrates professional artistry is purposeful and intentional, as research combining observations of professional practice with interviews has shown (eg. Titchen, 1998 , 2000 ; Klemola and Norros, 2001 ; Grainger, 2003 ; Austen, 2010 ). Observers or clients of the professional see, feel, or otherwise perceive professional artistry in the action of the practitioner, at least to a certain extent (eg. Beeston and Higgs, 2001 ; Radovich and Higgs, 2001 ). Gramling ( 2004 ) describes how ten post-intensive care unit patients experienced the art of nursing ‘rendered apparent in the body’ (p. 393 ) of the nurse. Moreover, the impact of the nurses’ artistry was felt in the bodies of the patients, through the impact of the nurses’ touch. These instances, even when brief, made dehumanising situations human and caring and were remembered vividly by patients, even months afterwards. McIntosh ( 1996 ) points out, however, that there are many instances in which professional artistry remains hidden to an observer, and hidden, too, for the patient, or client. Referring to her study into the knowledge base of district nursing, she emphasizes that the more experienced or expert a district nurse is, the more ‘unremarkable’ are the complex or particularly clever aspects of her or his practice, such as watching, questioning, thinking, analysing and coming to a decision. Titchen’s ( 1998 ; 2000 ) doctoral research explicated, among other things, the practice of an expert clinical ward sister and demonstrated how the embodied nature of her practice made her job look easy, natural and ordinary until less experienced nurses tried to emulate it, when they found it very difficult indeed. A casual observer is unlikely to see the complexity and, in addition, the nurse’s artistry prevents ‘dramatic’ situations arising. Later work (eg. Titchen & McGinley, 2003 ; McGinley, 2009 ; Mulcahy, 2013 ; Titchen & Kinsella, 2019 ) demonstrates, however, that it is certainly possible for practitioners to become aware of and articulate their embedded, embodied knowing. Brought into consciousness it can be critiqued and used cognitively and intentionally as well. The embodied and embedded nature of professional artistry is, then, antecedent, attribute and consequence of the concept of professional artistry. The studies mentioned above show that a practitioner must have embodied aspects of their practice if they are to be able to practice with artistry, making this distinguishing characteristic an antecedent. Professional artistry itself is not present unless the unique melding of a practitioner’s ways of being, doing, knowing and becoming (Radovich and Higgs, 2001 ) become manifest in the particular being and action of that individual (Greggans and Conlon, 2009 ) within the practice moment (attribute).