What is nursing writing?
Writing produced by nurses can be categorized into two main types: for the purpose of documentation and for the purpose of exploring research and literature published about nursing. Both types of writing are equally important. Because nurses have immense flexibility in their careers, it is important that nursing students familiarize themselves with writing to document care and writing for academic study through their assignments for various courses.
- Examples of documentation writing include DAR (data-action-response) notes, care plans, and EMR (electronic medical record) documentation. Documentation writing is used to record interventions, activities, or therapies used in a clinical setting, as well as a patient’s condition at any point in time.
- Literature reviews and research papers are examples of writing that explores existing published nursing research and promotes critical thinking while explaining or expanding upon topics that are pertinent to the nursing community. Researched writing that reviews the literature published in academic nursing journals is commonly assigned to nursing students throughout their undergraduate career, and these Tutor Tips focus on this type of writing rather than writing for documentation.
Why is writing in nursing important?
Nurses are in constant communication with their patients and the healthcare team they are a part of, including prescribers, other nurses, assistive personnel, and many other roles. As part of their education process, student nurses must develop and strengthen these communication skills in a variety of ways, including written communication skills developed within academic and instructional settings.