Nursing writing is important in healthcare to clearly communicate with regard to information that has to do with patients, including recording their proper care and dissemination of the information to other involved professionals in healthcare. Clear communication in patient records or articles helps to sustain and improve nursing practices. For example, a women’s health department in a hospital may try treatment that includes essential oils and Reiki.
They document their findings and then publish them in articles, thus serving as a guide to the many others in the field who can also work towards the betterment of care for their patients. It is a knowledge exchange that benefits nurses and patients alike, and more broadly, the healthcare system as a whole.
What is Nursing Writing?
Nursing writing refers to various forms of written communication associated with nursing. These are taken to mean the recording of details concerning patient care, the formation of care plans, reporting on observations, and writing research papers. Good nursing writing can assure an accurate record of patients’ information and its proper sharing, which is paramount in excellent care delivery and good working with other health professionals.
As a Professional Nurse, I Write
As a nurse, I write all the time. Reports must be accurately completed. Charts must be updated. Communications with doctors and patients must be noted. And it all must be as clear as possible and well-documented to back up care provided to patients. This guide is here to help familiarize you with the writing you’ll do both during nursing school and your career as a nurse. Good writing supports good communication and good care in health care.
Some general guidelines
Be Accurate
In nursing, everything needs to be accurate—not just medication administration or treatment implementation. Everything must be clearly and concisely documented every step of the way, and this includes doctors’ orders and concerns related to patients for good communication and protection.
For example, do not just write, “Did dressing change,” but rather something like this:
“Changed the dressing. Cleaned the wound with saline and gauze, applied calcium alginate, covered it with an ABD pad, and secured it with silk tape. The patient tolerated this well.”
This is a very specific entry that details what exactly was done and how, thus the record will be complete and easy to read. You may need to include other notes regarding the condition of the wound or any updates to the doctor as well.
Maintain objectivity
It’s a basic part of nursing—not including your personal feelings or opinions in your notes. Just record the facts and what you see, not how you feel or what you might think.
For example,Instead of “Patient acting crazy”, write:
“Patient pacing, breathing fast, clenching fists and yelling ‘Don’t touch me!’ over and over.”
There, that clearly describes what happened, so anyone reading it knows what went on without prejudice.
Keep in mind your critical audience
It might even be auditor-intensive reviews in healthcare or legal cases for which your notes are required. Be as objective and specific with clear documentation.
For example,Instead of vague notes, similar to “Did dressing change” or “Patient acting crazy,” the feedback provided should be much more specific:
- “Changed the dressing. Cleaned the wound up with saline. Applied the new dressing. Patient tolerated it well.”
- “The patient is pacing, breathing fast, clenching fists, and screaming, ‘Don’t touch me”.
Accurate writing protects you, and it guarantees that the record you are keeping will remain valuable.
The Importance of Nursing Writing
Accurate writing is the soul of nursing. This forms a highly required basis to document patient care in nursing. This includes filling out reports, updating charts, and writing down all information related to contacts with doctors, patients, and families. This record becomes very important for continuation of care, justification of medical decisions, and proving a legal record of care delivered.
For example, good notes on a patient’s symptoms and treatment enable the next professional involved in taking care of the patient to understand his history and thus make better decisions. Principally, Good documentation also protects nurses and their institutions against legal claims by providing evidence if any legal issues were to arise.
How Should a Nursing Essay Be Written?
You will write several types of essays during nursing school, each with some sort of particular focus. Here’s how to approach each type:
Essay in Narrative
A narrative essay is a piece of writing that conveys an event or experience, including through the writer’s personal perspective. The essay must start the plot, character, and theme. Typically, you use this type of essay for personal descriptions, for example, personal reflections. Use the first person and make sure to write in words that are clear and effective in expressing experiences, insights.
Explanatory Paper
Expository essays describe or inform about a specific topic. These two mostly adopt a simple five-paragraph structure, with an introduction, body paragraphs, and a conclusion. You must ensure you offer good evidence and solid explanations to defend your points.
Essay on Persuasion
A persuasive essay will seek to convince the reader of your point of view or to act.For example, you could call for a certain change in health policy. Attention to clear argumentation, logical transition, and good organisation is important for effective persuasion.
Essay in Comparative
A comparative essay is the one in which you do the comparison between two topics and then highlight their differences. From a nursing perspective, comparative essays may be asked about theories, texts, or occurrences in nursing. You can write about each of them separately or alternate between under a central thesis where you link them to provide a balanced analysis.
What Causes What Effects Essay
The cause-and-effect essay examines the causes of a problem and its consequent effects. This will involve, for example, talking about what causes a health trend and what effects result from it. You want to preserve a solid thesis, obvious transitions, and logically organized paragraphs explaining each cause and its effect. You will be in a position to clearly communicate thoughts and knowledge regarding nursing on mastering these essays.
For nursing students, which style is appropriate?
The APA style is highly predominant in nursing students since it fits well with the scientific and evidence-based approaches for the field. APA style assists in keeping writing concise while maintaining proper referencing. Although APA is going to be critical for nursing-related work, you may need to learn others as well. For example, the MLA style is frequently used for freshman writing courses. Because each style has its own rules and uses, knowledge of different styles will serve you well in many diverse academic tasks.
Conclusion
Nursing writing is an integral part of ensuring appropriate communication in healthcare. Proper documentation about the care provided to the patient ensures continuity of treatments and even helps in the collaborative process among health professionals. The writing styles that a student nurse will learn, such as APA for research and MLA for general essays, can assist him in getting ideas across. In nursing, one has to be very exact, objective, and keenly aware of who might read your work. Ensuring accuracy of records of patient interactions, research papers, and care plans is a base for quality care and saving yourself and your workplace.
