Donna Frost

Concept analysis 55 2 professional artistry. Where Schön's ( 1983 , 1987 , 2001 ) definition and treatment of professional artistry were largely epistemological in focus, the concept is regarded in current literature as an embodied phenomenon; one which makes praxis and movement towards human flourishing possible. Identification of a model case of professional artistry in the literature, Rodgers’ ( 1989 ) seventh phase of evolutionary concept analysis, has not been possible. Although painting a holistic picture, the antecedents, attributes and consequences of professional artistry remain to some extent nebulous. Researchers and scholars draw on a large number of other concepts when attempting to ‘grasp’, approach or describe the concept of professional artistry. It is not clear which of the many concepts referred to are always necessary to be able to speak of professional artistry. Similarly, it is unclear if there exist particular processes or dimensions without which there can be no designation of professional artistry. The literature reviewed here offers broad brush strokes with which to paint an image of professional artistry: a detailed picture of what professional artistry looks like in the practice of nursing is not yet clear. Rationale for the present study The concept analysis reveals a larger body of literature contributing to understandings about professional artistry than I had anticipated when beginning the inquiry. There are however few common denominators across the board except that the vast majority of sources refer to Schön ( 1983 , 1987 ) as starting point or to sources which rely on Schön. The idea that professional artistry is different from technical rationality and different from a purely cognitive and instrumental approach to professional practice appears universally accepted in the literature around professional artistry. Further, the embodied nature of professional artistry and its role, or potential role, in enabling morally imbued action and particularised care is supported theoretically and, in those sources in which a study has been made of professionals in practice or of professionals talking about their practice, empirically. The diversity of descriptors used to describe the attributes or desired attributes of professionals practising with artistry, the many and various dimensions of and processes considered to be relevant to or involved in professional artistry and the vast range of related concepts used by researchers and scholars to explain their understandings of professional artistry make the literature on this topic daunting. It offers, furthermore, no particular focus that could usefully be chosen as the starting point for a study into professional artistry over the other aspects.