Assignment One- First Draft

Ciarra Cook

Instructor Hem Paudel

English 102-59

2 February 2015

Effective Writing in Nursing

            My name is Ciarra Cook and my career interest is the Science of Nursing. I am currently a freshmen at the University of Louisville who is studying to become a Registered Nurse. To gather up information for this report I interviewed one person, Rachel Prater, and observed nurses that work very hard on a daily basis at the place in which I work. Since nursing is such a very broad field to study that can take you through many forms of writing, I will be mostly focusing on upper level of nursing, which is the beginning of your career,             pediatric care, administrative nursing, and nursing being taught by professors . Nursing is a very beneficial field of study that helps society as a whole. Also, without knowing correct usage of words and vocabulary, many of duties done by nurses could be done incorrectly.

             The first person I interviewed. Rachel Prater, she is very much so closer to becoming a nurse then I am. When I asked Rachel how she uses writing effectively for nursing she said,

A big part of the nursing program is to be able to write about clinical situations. One Example of this is in my anatomy lab class where we have to read patient connection articles about clinical situations and findings. We then have to answer questions that are related to the article content, so I have learned to change my writing style to include more medical terms when I am writing about various nursing topics.

Rachel’s answer relates supports my argument because not only does writing effectively increases her medical terminology, but also strengthens her usage of them in forms of writing for clinical. I then asked Rachel on her opinion if she believes that writing correctly can help her become a better nurse in the future. “I definitely feel like writing correctly can allow me to become a better nurse in the future.” Said Rachel Prater. This quote that was said by Rachel gives me the inside thoughts of a upper level and supports the outlook that correct writing can make an individual better at their job. Misunderstandings or words or spelling of words can lead to lethal results or cause a patient much harm.

            I am a CGA (care giver assistant) at The Kidz Club, which is a daycare for kids with disabilities of many kinds. I work with many nurses who in fact do plenty of writing on a daily basis. There are many forms that need to be filled out on a regular and timed basis so that each child is taken care of properly. When a child first arrives, their temperatures and O2 levels are taken and written down. Each child is thoroughly assessed for any types of bruises, scratches, rashes, etc. Everything that is seen is documented and filed so that if the parent is in need for any information it is all in their child’s folder. Each child at The Kidz Club is on some sort of medicine, and each day the nurse in charge of the room uses their time to go through each kid one by one and give that certain child their medication and then the nurse writes down the times that it was given. Also, at meal times, whatever percentage of food a child eats while being at the Kidz Club is written down on sheets so that the correct nutrition is given to those who have certain dietary needs. Nurses at TKC also have to feel out incident reports if a child has a accident. Lastly, TKC is all about growth and development for these children, many of the children there are given weekly goals, these goals are determined to be succeeded with the help of the nurses, and when that child comes to or actually reaching their goals, then it is documented by the nurses.

            Although most essay-like writing in nursing is mostly found in their years of being a student, nurses have to write appropriately and correctly in their work life in order to successfully establish correct ways of treating patients. In, The Importance of Good Writing Skills in the Field of Nursing, Leyla Norman states, “Clear written communication is vital for the care of as well as for research and staff supervision.” This relates to my argument because what she has said directly supports my belief that writing in the Science of Nursing has a massive effect on a patient’s outcome. Secondly, many nurses have a leadership role in being in administration. Many head nurses has plenty of paperwork to feel out and must be very aware of how to correctly fill out patient’s form and getting them the care they need.

            In conclusion, I have looked at many different parts of a nurse’s life and have only come to conclude that nurses who can write correctly can cause better outcomes in a patience life and avoid bad outcomes such as lawsuits and injuring a patient. Writing effectively can help a nurse with their medical terminology and can also help their career. Filling out assessments, paperwork, medication logs, etc can help a patient to a faster recovery!