Assignment One

 

Ciarra Cook

Instructor Hem Paudel

English 102-59

2 February 2015

Effective Writing in Nursing

            My name is Ciarra Cook and I am interest in the Science of Nursing. I am currently a freshmen at the University of Louisville, studying to become a Registered Nurse. Nursing has always been a very beneficial field of study that helps society as a whole. The usage of writing effects the everyday career lifestyle of a nurse, an example would be collecting data from patients to provide availability for a Doctor to determine a diagnosis in a timelier manner. Also, without knowing correct usage of words and vocabulary, many of duties done by nurses could be done incorrectly, this could lead to law suits or even end up terminal for a patient. After research the effective writings of nursing and interviewing nurses I conducted that without writing a nurses job could not be done correctly and could cause harm to numerous people and cause bad situations. I chose interest in this subject because as a nursing student I am interested in the types of writing of should be preparing myself for in the near future.

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.

             The Science of Nursing starts out just as any other field, with basic college classes that builds an individual’s skills to think and write effectively. In the Nursing program at the University of Louisville, for instance, you must to take a certain amount of classes, and then before you apply to the upper level of nursing you must write a grammatically correct paper on why you want to be a nurse. This paper is a big part of why nursing students must practice on their writing skills so that they may develop a one of a kind paper that could determine their future. Also, the purpose of taking to writing classes while being in lower level of nursing is also to prepare an individual to correctly fill out sheets for hospital and being able to document about a clinical.

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 Prater)

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 and correct dosages. 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 an 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. “The way we use writing here at the Kidz Club is for correct documentation, if not clear written information there could be miss interpretations by a child’s physician and physical therapist which could lead towards incorrectly provide medical treatment for a child.” Miss Cindy at the Kidz Club has this to say when I had asked her on how writing affects her career. This relates due to the example of provide wrong documentation to a child’s doctor, which could end very badly, not only for the child, but also for the one who had provided the wrong information.

            In conclusion, I have looked at many different parts of a nurse’s written work 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! Secondly, a nurse’s written work can also expand into providing newly found research for a patient or a physician. Lastly, nurses use formal medical terminology when writing in order to correctly provide a doctor with correct information about a patient or even providing research logs to those who are interest in a particular medical study. And a nurse can also use informal writing to communicate with other nurses or keeping in contact with patients that they have taken care of for a long time. A nurse’s persistent usage in writing takes steps from papers to clinical logs, from basic vocab to medical terminology, and from informal to formal. As a nurse progresses through the field, so does their writing.