Questions for YOU!

cameron5575, BSN, RN · Nov 16, 2020

1. Are you asking how important writing skills are in nursing school? If so, the answer very. At least in my program, there is a heavy emphasis on writing papers with proper English, APA formatting, and so forth. It's important to know not only how to avoid grammatical errors but also how to structure a paper and how to use proper APA format.

2. This is a very general question (and I'm not yet a nurse) so I'm not sure I can give a very detailed answer as to what goes on in day to day nursing practice. All I can talk about is how nurses are supposed to communicate with each other: clearly and concisely. This means learning how to use SBAR to give a report. Also, maintaining strict patient confidentiality would fall under this category, I suppose. So that would mean following the guidelines of HIPAA and not disclosing any private patient information to inappropriate parties (intentionally or unintentionally).

3. I'm a native English speaker so, again, I don't think I'm necessarily the best person to offer this insight. However, in my opinion, I believe that, if you're taking a course in English, English skills are important to have for the reasons stated in answers 1 and 2. Students need to know how to write a paper according to the standards of the program and they need to be able to both understand and communicate critical information to patients and team members when working as a nurse.

4. Do you need to know other languages to be a nurse? No - just the primary language of where you work. If you happen to come across a patient who doesn't speak English, for example, protocol dictates that you're to obtain an interpreter. So, no, you don't need to know multiple languages.

5. Yes, as with virtually any job, there is a chain of command. In a hospital setting (and in its most simple form), I guess you could say that it goes something like this:

1. Doctors

2. Nurses (carry out doctors' orders)

3. Certified nursing assistants (carry out nurses' orders)

However, this doesn't account for residents, physicians assistants, nurse practitioners/advanced practice nurses, charge nurses, LPNs, RNs, student nurses, and so forth. Chain of command goes much more in depth than this.

nursenate5 · Nov 16, 2020

1. can you tell me how in daily nursing students lives do you use writing practices such as communicating and what does it provide?

In my nursing program, we write frequently. We are expected to use APA 7th edition for most of our papers and have had written assignments up to 15 pages in length. Aside from this, we commonly write in patient's charts utilizing nursing notes. This is more informal, but is also more critical to patient safety. I would imagine you will be writing frequently and communicating frequently in both the clinical and didactic portion of nursing school.

2. what do you think of how nurses communicate with one another?

Except when giving report or hand-off, it's pretty informal when nurses communicate with one another. To help in report and handoff, you can use cheat sheets with pre-written information about your patients to help facilitate what you'd like to say. There are methods that can be utilized, like mentioned above (SBAR or CUS) to help you if you struggle with communication. Ultimately though, you should feel comfortable speaking up for your patients with other nurses, physicians, and health workers.

3.would it matter if nursing students didn't have very good English and why?to expand this Do you need good English skills to be a nurse? do you need to know other languages as well?

I can't speak on this personally since English is my first language. However, I went to school with a non-native speaker that struggled with English. Although she had a more difficult time with the coursework, she was very dedicated and completed the program. I think it's most important that you are able to communicate critical things--changes in patient status, safety issues, physiologic conditions, etc. Depending on your oral/listening skills in English, you may have a more challenging time in clinical. I believe some nursing programs require you to pass an English proficiency exam if you are a non-native speaker, but you will have to speak to the specific program's director or advisor.

4. is there a hierarchy at work? who is in charge and how do different people at work have different responsibilities?

This depends on the unit you're working on, the hospital, and the culture of the facility. In any given setting, you will experience charge nurses, supervisors, nursing managers, chief nursing officers, and resource nurses. These all have different responsibilities depending on where you work. In addition to this, you will be working as part of a team with respiratory therapists, LPNs/LVNs, certified nurse assistants, physicians, physician assistants, nurse practitioners, SLP, physical therapy, and a whole bunch of other people. The best way to fully understand these roles (in my opinion) is clinical experience, whether that is as a nursing student, in a job, or shadowing.

FiremedicMike, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Nov 16, 2020

LOL, if you guys wouldn't mind APA citing your responses, then her homework assignment would be COMPLETELY done.. ?