“The Power of Intent and a Touch of the Unexpected: Using Research to Change

Practice”

Ineke Buskens

In this experiential workshop the concepts of intent, reflexivity and self care were explored in a context of

research capacity building and research results implementation. Participants were directed to learn how to

position their research choices paradigmatically and practically and gain the skills to continue evolving

their critical analysis and interpersonal communication capacity. All throughout the workshop the

participants were stimulated to own the power of their intent and stay open to the emergence of the

unexpected which research for change is bound to bring up.

The workshop was attended by more than 25 nurses, who were mainly Jordanian with few nurses from

the Arabic region and from other parts of the world. Nurses who attended the workshop had different

academic preparations ranging between BSN to PhDs in nursing. The workshop lasted for more than 3

hours and it started with asking each participant to share her / his intent for the workshop as well as what

they expect to learn from the workshop. Then the activities were carried out according to the needs of the

participants. The workshop activities were videotaped and were very interactive. The nurses actively

participated and enjoyed the different workshop activities which included a dream drawing session, and

free attitude interviews in addition to group discussions and reflections. During the last group discussion

about the dream drawing exercise the participants reflected on their deep learning and understanding as

well as the insights they gained from the exercise.