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and gaps in my knowledge so that my diary entries became almost a TO
DO list. I wrote down my own stories and those from staff who had given
verbal permission for me to use them. Sometimes the overarching
research question guided the reflections but most often it did not.
I would change from my nursing uniform in the ―staff cupboard‖ and then
go to a café after an early shift which finished about 3.30p.m or a pub after
a late shift which finished about 10p.m. I wanted to capture events as
close to the experience as I could. If I went home I was always interrupted
by domestic tasks or conversations. Interruptions became a theme from
this strand which I will explore in more detail in chapter 4. I noticed that if I
chatted through the days events with a critical friend (Taylor 2006, Titchen
2001) I lost some of the experience, that is, I realised I had talked it away.
I came away from that conversation with useful ideas and actions to focus
on but was unable to capture the detail in my diary and so that data were
lost.
I had a small black book in my pocket during each shift and a mini disc for
recording whilst working. I sought permission to record some
conversations or write notes down in my book. Almost all of these were
turned down by the staff. They were happy to talk to me but did not want to
be recorded more formally. In my bag I had official consent forms and
information about the research. I put a copy of these on the notice board
but very quickly they were covered over by other notices. I offered
information sheets and consent forms to the staff but no-one seemed
interested in reading them. So I learnt to explain the research and ask
verbally for permission to use any conversation with staff during a shift of
care giving.
I did not produce a formalised checklist for my observations but tended to
have a somewhat serendipitous process to my field note taking as
described above. Clandinin and Connelly (2000 p.103) suggest field notes
already contain an interpretative aspect and may have a ―puzzling quality‖
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