How important is the ability to communicate via writing?

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

I am curious about what some of the seasoned nurses think about this topic. In my ADN program, the instructors stress to us the ability to write using correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. They say that this reflects upon us as professionals.

Any thoughts you'd like to share?

[Altra, BSN, RN]

I am curious about what some of the seasoned nurses think about this topic. In my ADN program, the instructors stress to us the ability to write using correct spelling, punctuation, and grammar. They say that this reflects upon us as professionals.

Any thoughts you'd like to share?

Extremely important.

As a student you read charts ... surely you've seen examples of both well-written notes and those with poor grammar, spelling and word choices.

One review of your chart by Risk Management or in a deposition will convince you of the importance of communicating well in writing.

[PMHNP10]

On the one hand, it means your ability to keep your license, and not have to pay in a lawsuit (due to the ability to chart coherently); on the other hand, your instructor is 10000% correct.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I absolutely loathe when I see nurses notes that are riddled with misspellings and grammatical errors. I cannot stand to hear nurses speaking improper English. I become annoyed when nurses utilize the incorrect terminology.

Last year, I overheard as another nurse placed a phone call to a doctor to report a change in condition. She reported that the patient had a "big ole blood blister." She would have sounded less idiotic if she had reported that her patient had a hematoma, and had provided the proper measurements and location.

Good writing does not make a good nurse, because there are other ingredients that need to be stirred into the pot of excellent nursing care. However, proficiency in writing and communication might help us appear slightly more professional to other members of the interdisciplinary team.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

By the way, another nurse typed a new order into the facility's computer that actually printed out on the January 2008 MARs. It read, "cleanse the blood blister on the ankle BID."

I really wonder if the term "blood blister" would stand up in the court of law. We are expected to possess knowledge about certain conditions.

[PMHNP10]

I absolutely loathe when I see nurses notes that are riddled with misspellings and grammatical errors. I cannot stand to hear nurses speaking improper English. I become annoyed when nurses utilize the incorrect terminology.

Last year, I overheard as another nurse placed a phone call to a doctor to report a change in condition. She reported that the patient had a "big ole blood blister." She would have sounded less idiotic if she had reported that her patient had a hematoma, and had provided the proper measurements and location.

Good writing does not make a good nurse, because there are other ingredients that need to be stirred into the pot of excellent nursing care. However, proficiency in writing and communication might help us appear slightly more professional to other members of the interdisciplinary team.

Having just completed a RN-BSN program I just had the experience of working in a group setting with a Chinese female, an African female, and an African male (as well as a few other American students). I call it an experience because I was naive--never in my wildest imagination would I have thought professionals could not complete a coherent sentence, regardless of nationality--lower case names, sentence fragments, ONE, TWO, or THREE sentence fragment paragraphs, etc. I'd love to know if foreign born med. students slaughter the English language; do med. students have to write papers? or is their time spent reading and studying for exams? How can faculty pass these students? I told our faculty clinical leader that I'd fail the student and then find their HS Eng. instructors and fail them. I refused to turn in my work with theirs; I was embarassed for those students.

[AprilRNhere]

I just want to ditto TheCommuter. Nurses want to be seen as professionals. They want respect. When spelling and grammar are poor it makes a person look poorly educated.

**but...I am NOT saying an occasional mistake makes someone look uneducated- but consistently poor spelling and grammar make others view us that way...we all make mistakes***

[danissa, LPN, LVN]

I agree, I don't like to see bad grammar in the notes. These are legal documents, and can be used in a court of law for 25 years. For a year, I audited the nursing/medical notes in our unit, reporting back findings to all staff on a monthly basis,this improved certain aspects of documentation which were falling behind.

And..no, I didn't volunteer for this job..was assigned by the boss. It took up many of my own hours!

[llg, PhD, RN]

I agree completely. If your writing is filled with poor grammar, etc. it makes you appear uneducated and/or terribly sloppy. It makes you -- and the entire profession look bad.

I also emphathize with psychrn03. Some of the English language skills I see in my students (in a BSN completion program) are absolutely abysmal. It's embarassing to think that these students were ever given a high school diploma, much less an ADN or Diploma in nursing!

[ebear, BSN, RN]

I ABSOLUTELY agree with your instructors and the above posters!

[bigsyis]

As you read the different threads on this site, you will see how vital it is to be a good communicator. It is of extreme importance to be able to document correctly, in English, in a pt's chart-it is a legal document. It is also vital to be able to use correct grammar when dealing with other professionals. "They ain't done it yet" isn't the way to tell an MD that the MRI he ordered on a pt hasn't been completed.

Some nurses forget that how they represent (or MISrepresent themselves) reflects on Nursing as a profession.

[TiredMD]

I know many nurses feel that physicians should talk to them when they round, but when I'm seeing upwards of 20 patients on different wards, this is rarely feasible. My substitute is to read nursing notes. And while I know that physician notes are often illegible, I have to say that a lot of nursing notes are pretty bad as well.

Sentence fragments, abbreviations I don't understand, chicken-scratch handwriting. Half the time I can't figure out if I'm reading the RNs note or the cardiologist's.

A good nursing note saves me precious minutes in the morning. A great nursing note makes my day.