Background: The Patients First programme was launched in 2009 and ran for eight years, focusing on ‘supporting local nurse-led initiatives’. The programme supported 10 clinically based nurse-led teams each year on a structured 18-month learning and development programme.

Aim: To explore a participatory approach to the evaluation of the programme using Borton’s reflective framework. From this reflection and critique, I aim to discuss the purpose and process of the evaluation, the level of participation achieved and my learning and development as a practice development facilitator.

Implications for practice:

• The starting point is clarity about the purpose and intent of the evaluation
• Opportunities should be sought for collaboration, inclusion and participation, and for learning from evaluation activities
• Using creativity in evaluation reveals new insights and provides opportunities to present findings to stakeholders in a variety of ways
• Using transformational approaches enables learning, growth and development for all

This article by Jo Odell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 License.