What's with ...

What about nursing student writers? I'm very interested in nursing/health-related writing (I read kevinmd.com a lot, and feel like this could be the nursing equivalent where it reaches nursing and non-nursing audiences).

We are trying to reach nurses of all levels as well as those who are interested in nursing and are considering nursing as a career.

Where do I sign up to get paid to be on AN?

We are Hiring! link found at bottom of every page.

As far as those articles that I personally felt were valuable, resonated with me, etc, are those that address real world issues or questions that nurses and students have - particularly Commuter's articles I've found very helpful and informative.

Thank you, klone. I appreciate the fact that you've deemed any of my writings informative. However, be mindful that, since I post under a username instead of my real name, I can be far more blunt and critical of the nursing establishment than authors who are publicly named/pictured. I can be assured that my nurse managers wouldn't be happy with some of my writings if I posted my real name, picture, and place of employment.

I'm glad there is a low cost online option like WGU for those who want or need a BSN

Me, too. I am a current WGU student who is only a few credits shy of earning the BSN degree, and while I probably will go elsewhere for the MSN, my experience with WGU has been nothing but positive. For me, a dream that had been deferred will now turn into a reality.

They count as 'low cost'

WGU is a low-cost option here in the US, especially compared to other online schools. Tuition is $3,250 per six-month term, which means I will be paying less than $6,000 for my BSN degree. I paid a lower prorated rate for my second term, which is why I'll pay less than $6,000.

I know of others who have paid in the $20,000 to $30,000 range in tuition for online BSN degree programs, so WGU is a lower cost option.

Thank you, klone. I appreciate the fact that you've deemed any of my writings informative. However, be mindful that, since I post under a username instead of my real name, I can be far more blunt and critical of the nursing establishment than authors who are publicly named/pictured. I can be assured that my nurse managers wouldn't be happy with some of my writings if I posted my real name, picture, and place of employment.

Exactly, Commuter!!

How many of our members would say the things they do without the protection of anonymity?

Yes, Commuter is a terrific writer. And she is also a wonderful person.....I can vouch for that since we have met in person.

There are so many members here who write so well, so incisively, and so perceptively, and for free. Why pay someone else for a (so far) largely inferior product? Why not "pay" people here with, oh, free membership for good writing, even if it is anonymous? (I'm looking at you, Cheese Potato-- well, I would if I could see you. Where've you been? And so many others, from pre-nursing through and into old-bat-hood ...) Most of them don't feel the need to have some citation for a post on a nursing board (developed for entertainment value alone) on their CVs. I certainly wouldn't.

I agree with the posters above who note that much of the paid writing here seems superficial. Hell, I could dash of some of those things in my sleep. And one "author" (whose name I will not mention because I cannot remember it, and I wouldn't anyway) posted a piece that looked suspicious, so I ran through the plagiarism-detection software I use as an editor IRL. It came up 100% cut-and-pasted from online sources, not even an attempt to paraphrase, and most of those sources not credited. (Although the "author" did include the original citations included in the plagiarized material, (!!!), perhaps an attempt at looking like real work?) Bah. You can fool some of the people some of the time ...

I am hopefully assuming that since that article has been withdrawn (after I whined about it, and thank you for doing so) that AN will be making some attempt on quality control for the future.

AN really does have a lot of talent here already. I don't see why you would feel it necessary to solicit and pay contributors for this sort of thing. Reward the good people who help so many folks here out of the goodness of their hearts and love of the profession, why dontcha?

Members are always welcome and encouraged to write. Yes we have excellent articles by our staff and some of our members. However......we do not have enough articles. We have conducted article contests in order to encourage more articles. The fact is....we need more articles. You are encouraged to write articles which you think are about topics that members are looking for. And....as I said before, if there are specific articles that you or anyone else feel are "superficial".,please let me know via private message. Posting broad statements is not help. I cannot do anything to improve situations unless I know specifics.

Re. the article to which you are referring....that was written by a new member.....NOT a writer....and has been addressed. If you see questionable content, the best and most efficient way to notify staff is to report it rather than discuss it on the thread where it might be missed by staff.