“…This discussion paper builds on the authors’ experiences as nurse-researchers and is supported by nursing theories, that is, the McGill model of nursing (Allen, 1977, 1999; Gottlieb & Rowat, 1987; Kravitz & Frey, 1989) and the theory of nursing (Allen, 1977, 1999; Gottlieb & Rowat, 1987; Kravitz & Frey, 1989; Swanson, 1991), as well as cross-disciplinary theoretical work on relational engagement (Richard et al, 2017) and on complexity theory ( Richard et al, 2012). These theoretical underpinnings provided a framework to interpret and make explicit the relational connections.…”