Do most nurses not like writing papers?

[purplegal]

It seems that whenever the topic of nursing school comes up, many of the people I went to school with mention that they always disliked writing papers. Whenever I talk to people who are currently in nursing school, or want to enter the healthcare profession in some other way, the answer is pretty much the same--they dislike writing papers, as well as other projects.

I was just wondering if this was the norm? I usually don't share this with anyone, but I rather enjoy writing papers. I love being able to sit down and just let my thoughts flow, or organize information that I've found through research articles. I also quite liked the projects we had during our public health clinicals such as making booklets and powerpoints, and then teaching the content to others. Most of the people who went to my BSN program disliked the public health portion part.

At work, I still love to write. I love charting and writing progress notes, whereas most of the nurses I work with dislike that aspect of the job. So, am I really that abnormal in that I enjoy writing? Do I seem to have less of a nurse personality because my opinion on writing seems to differ from many others who are in the same profession?

I don't believe it affects my nursing care, at least not in a negative way. I work well with my patients and am very attentive to their care and needs. It's just that my documentation is very thorough and I may have the tendency to over-document.

[Libby1987]

Question to all, whether you enjoy writing or not, do you think it important to be part of the ASN or BSN curriculum?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

I'm enjoying all the comments to this thread. This is actually one of those 'universal benefits' of education. John Dewey (educational theorist) called it "incidental learning" - the skills & knowledge that is not actually listed on the curriculum, but learned all the same. Expressing oneself in writing is a complex skill that requires the ability to obtain information, organize one's thoughts, arrange them in a way that makes sense, etc. If you add in the spelling, grammar & formatting (APA) requirements, it indicates mastery of some fairly high level skills. Another example? Dealing with group projects teaches us how to work as a team.

Each level of education brings it's own set of incidental skills. For instance, anyone with a graduate degree should be able to develop & deliver a presentation without breaking a sweat.... PhD's don't have a problem with maintaining focus during multi-hour lectures - it just goes with the territory.

[versican]

I am relatively (self-proclaimed) good at writing. Like someone mentioned, as an introvert I'm much better at the written word than spoken. But nursing school wanted quantity over quality. Once I realized that -- seeing what papers would pass for an "A" -- I saved a ton of time.

I usually give 100%, but to get an "A" for writing only took 50% effort. I was so overwhelmed in nursing school (having young children to care for) that I realized true quality writing was unnecessary. I was happy to reduce my time writing papers so I could be a better mom to my kids. I guess I was prioritizing.

So, yes, I like writing. But only if it has meaning. And many papers I wrote in nursing school (and there were MANY) seemed like busy work. Quite a poor use of time.

[NurseStorm, BSN, RN]

I hated it. Hated APA, hated having to find the certain set number of references, and there always had to be certain ones within certain time frames which usually ended up being very difficult. They mostly were largely about theory. I always have done very well on papers but I hate doing them. One paper I did in nursing school, I didn't mind doing. It was in maternity class and you chose a topic (I chose multiple births including high order multiples), and wrote about what it was, the risks, the interventions etc etc etc. That was very interesting to me and useful. Mostly all the other papers felt like make work projects re: theories, trying to match the rubric that they wanted you to meet, etc. Frustrating and I didn't feel I got much out of it.

[db2xs]

I would say the population in general hates writing papers. Nursing is my second career and I used to be a writer/editor in my previous career. Lots of people told me they hated writing formal papers. Free text/narrative--sure. But structured papers are difficult, for sure. Esp if the topic is about something someone doesn't care about.

[AliNajaCat]

I love writing and I'm an editor too. I love to have edited (with thanks to Dorothy Parker, who famously said, "I hate writing, I love to have written")...but sometimes I sweat bullets doing it, especially if the author isn't being clear. So many people who are experts in their fields have a problem explaining what they know in clear English.

There's a wonderful paper called, "Why Academics Stink at Writing," which you can google and enjoy. I also belong to a list for nurse authors and editors, and cherish one post from a few years back called, "How to be a ruthless editor." Another great resource for nascent writers (besides a wonderful editor) is the Grammar Girl website and blog. You'll love it. I give copies of her book as door prizes when I speak.

I agree that writing is a great skill for everyone, well worth the effort you put into learning how to do it better, and transferrable to almost anything you do. I remember the thrill I felt when a physician I greatly admired told me I wrote great nurse's notes, that he could see exactly what was going on c his patients through them. (Bless you, John Mehigian, wherever you are.) Story-telling is a skill every soft-bosomed grandmother needs to have :). Imagining what your reader sees and hears and needs to know is a good place from which to start, from toddlers to dissertation committees, and all stops in between.

[Wandrlust]

I don't mind writing the papers, but I dread the hours upon hours of research that goes along with it.. And properly quoting sources, ugh very tidious.

[cocoa_puff]

I enjoy writing papers, APA format, and charting. I think I'm an odd ball for a nurse. I hate, hate, hate discussion boards and group projects though.

[HeySis, BSN, RN]

Question to all, whether you enjoy writing or not, do you think it important to be part of the ASN or BSN curriculum?

I don't find it to be an important part of the ASN or BSN curriculum.

In my ASN program, I only had to do one paper. I think learning skills, critical thinking, recognizing an emerging problems, and performing interventions are the important tasks in the ASN program.

In my BSN program it's APA papers and homework done with APA citations and references. But I'm unsure how necessary that is. I agree that we need to learn APA so that if the nurse chooses to continue their education to the grad level they will have a good understanding of it, for school and for the research and publishing that is expected of grad level nurses.

But for the work that BSN- RN's do? Nope. Most facilities here prefer the BSN for bedside care. MSN to be in management (and let me say the CMS regulations you have to follow and plan's of correction you write are not APA, neither are your policy and procedure manuals or the power points my instructors put together). So I don't feel like the paper writing and formatting to be critical to what the BSN prepared nurse will be doing.

I do find the papers to be an easy A, but I'm finding that regurgitating information I already know into APA format so I can get the piece of paper (BSN) is tiresome. Maybe it's just my program, but I was hoping to be taught something other then APA formatting... like something related to nursing care that I would implement at the bedside.

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Hi,

I liked doing power points as long as it was a topic of interest, but papers, not so much. I think I have a bit of ADHD so my attention span is less than stellar!

Annie