Donna Frost

iii Acknowledgements It feels to me as if I began this research a lifetime ago. Without the love, support and practical help from a large number of people I would not have brought it to fruition. To the nurses and nurse practitioners who worked with me in the collaborative inquiry groups, my heartfelt thanks and enormous admiration. Your curiosity, passion and willingness to try new things within this research – and in your lives generally – have inspired me. I thank you for your time and energy and for the wonderful work we did together. I thank you too for your trust in me and for allowing me the freedom to share this story we created in the way I have done here. My thanks to the Dutch healthcare organisations in which the research took place, although they remain anonymous here, and to the two UK universities where I have been registered for the PhD: the Faculty of Life and Health Sciences, University of Ulster, Belfast ( 2010 – 2013 ) and the School of Health Sciences, Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh ( 2014 – 2019 ). Without the financial and practical support of my employer, Fontys University of Applied Sciences, School of People and Health Studies, The Netherlands, this research would not have been possible at all: I remain very grateful for the opportunity to embark on and complete this journey. Angie and Brendan, words cannot express how highly I have valued and value your compassion, wisdom, endless patience and your faith in me. There have been many times that I have doubted if I had it in me to finish this work. Somehow you helped me find the flame and the strength. You lent me your light when mine was nearly gone and then stood back and let me shine. Thank you both for being more critically creative and person-centred than I could ever have imagined. Wendy, although my time as your PhD student at Ulster University was relatively short- lived, you inspired me to examine my assumptions and to look at ‘givens’ from a different perspective. Thank you for your support in the early stages of this work and for these lasting lessons. To my splendid colleagues at Fontys. Frommy beginnings in the Knowledge Centre through toworking in teamMANP, I’ve been surrounded by curiosity, excellence and generosity of spirit. Not to mention challenging questions! Thank you, colleagues in Tilburg and those I see less often in Eindhoven, you have each in your own way helped me on my way, not in the least by creating time and forgiving my absences. As well, there has been a never ending supply of hope, encouragement, laughter and crazy Dutch humour. I am very grateful to you all.