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two strands. My aim was to allow for comparisons between reflecting away
from the bedside and those by the bedside as part of the inquiry. I
envisaged the main form of data collection would be through storytelling of
practice experiences.
In Strand 2, I wanted to work with a nursing team, and utilise my own
reflective accounts including participant observation, by returning as a
practising nurse. Once in the ward, I would recruit a co-inquiry group from
the nursing team to inquire into the possibilities and tensions of reflecting
during care giving. In Strand 3, I hoped to work with another nursing team
to see if the environment or ward culture affected reflecting-in-action. In
keeping with the emerging nature of this paradigm, Strand 3 changed to
interviews with key people in practice development and risk assessment
roles, and involved an action learning set with modern matrons. Finally, a
Trust reflective model was designed with a group of modern matrons from
a different Trust.
A theme continuing throughout all the strands was my own first person
inquiry. I have kept a personal diary as part of my teaching practice for a
number of years and it became an integral part of the research process.
The intention was to chart the questions that emerged as I shifted attention
to reflecting in the context of the ward from that as a teacher. My purposes
were to notice my reflections as I participated in care giving after an
absence of 10 years, to reflect on my practice as a teacher facilitating
reflection in others, to reflect as a PhD researcher engaging with new
literature and as a SOLAR 3 15 participant. However, most importantly, was
to develop as a co-inquirer and co-subject in relation to reflecting-in-action
both in and out of the ward.
15 I was a PhD student in the SOLAR 3 cohort. We met 6 times a year for intensive
workshops based on Weil‘s (1998) critically reflexive action research process where I
developed my co-inquiry action research skills through a critically reflexive group process
in a cross disciplinary group.
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