Would you (an experienced nurse) help me? Please?

CASTLEGATES · Oct 3, 2010

ok so i have to write a report about the career field i want to go into and im supposed to intervew a professional, experienced nurse. well since i don't personally know any, and i figured i can't just walk into a hospital, grab a nurse and start an interview with him/her, i figured why not turn to allnurses.com!

anyways i need you to answer as many of the following questions as possible.

i really would appreciate it :heartbeat

thank you in advance

(1) how important is writing in this profession? it's paramount if you plan on being respected and successful.

(2) how often do you write a day, a week? about 100+ paragraphs per shift.

(3) for what occasions do you write? notes, care plans, notes to physicians, surveys, reports, reviews, evaluations, classes, etc.

(4) who do you write to? patients, physicians, supervisors (reports, etc), other staff, patient notes.

(5) do you write and/or give presentations? both; classes are given in written format backed by the presentation so the content is understood by administration and stakeholders.

(6) how important is it that the writing be clear and correct for this profession? grade school should take care of spelling and grammar (save the occasional error). continued communication errors are unacceptable in this profession. typically when staff encounter poor communication skills “go back to grade school” (and similar) comments are common (often out of earshot). remember, this is not a high school issue; it’s a grade school issue. holding a degree and license in charge of the lives of others when one can’t be bothered to master their native tongue is inexcusable.

(7) does clear organization in writing matter in this profession? it is important to make your point and be succinct. errors are common with individuals who have difficulty communicating precisely what is intended. miscommunication costs lives; many (literally).

(8) are high school and college english courses essential for this career? grade school english should suffice (if the student is paying attention). basic grammar and spelling are covered in grade school and are perfected thereafter. why do you or don’t you think so? in career ads, you will see "excellent communication skills are a must." this is typically code for " can you read and write the native language of the land? if english is your native language, it is inexcusable not to be able to master your own tongue (especially since most americans are uni-lingual).

(9) do you do research? rarely, yes.

(10) do you have to write performance reviews? yes.

(11) if so, is it important these are written well? it's expected why? if this is not the case, the supervisory position held is undeserved. how would you like your career to be judged by someone who couldn't spell?

errors are common, especially in haste (which is understandable). you never want errors on employee reviews, patient records or hospital records. errors are ridiculed in court and continued errors often discredit the author even going as far as accusing them of incompetency. poor communication it is not a disability, it is a choice. effective communication says volumes about who we are.

i never hire people who cannot bother to master their own language, especially if that’s the only language they use for a couple decades. i do make exceptions if they are foreign born, still motivated to learn the language and intelligent.

i take it the person who wrote the questions has a pet peeve about communication issues. i have noticed in my new geographic location that communication is lacking which immediately gave me a low opinion of the area.

also in addition to that any kind of advice about preparing for nursing in general would also help round out the report.

thanks a million! :)

tyvin, BSN, RN · Oct 3, 2010

What type of program are you in? What type of prerequisite English composition courses did you take for the program? Can you take from multiple sources or are you suppose to have an interview with one nurse? What format are you suppose to write it in (APA, MLA, etc...)? What year are you in the program? What state are you in?

nrsgnerd · Oct 3, 2010

ok so i have to write a report about the career field i want to go into and im supposed to intervew a professional, experienced nurse. well since i don't personally know any, and i figured i can't just walk into a hospital, grab a nurse and start an interview with him/her, i figured why not turn to allnurses.com!
anyways i need you to answer as many of the following questions as possible.
i really would appreciate it :heartbeat
thank you in advance
(1) how important is writing in this profession? it is very important to write well and to be able to express precisely things such as, events, times dates, what was said and to be able to do so objectively.
(2) how often do you write a day, a week? every day i work, i write and make nursing notes to describe a pts behavior, thought processes and what has been taught to the pt regarding care, medications and what to expect during the shift.
(3) for what occasions do you write?see #2
(4) who do you write to? pharmacy for orders, nursing care orders, radiology testing, cardiology testing and also emails to managers-unit and/or case managers with questions or concerns related to my job or a service needed for the pt such as medication assistance or complaints from pts or family members. i also had to write out a detailed description of an event that was put in my employee file after a pt's family complained about me and threatened to bring a lawsuit against the hospital. the family member appeared to be under the influence but still and yet, this remains in my employee file and i have a copy of it for my own records. always make a copy for your own records!!!!!!!!!!!
(5) do you write and/or give presentations? depending on what tier of nurse you are....the higher the tier the more responsibilities you may have. for instance, we have a heart walk with the american heart association each year so flyers and information have to be presented to recruit employees to participate. and if you get any type of financial assistance from the hospital to attend seminars, you are usually required to make a poster board or do a quick presentation about what you learned to your colleagues.
(6) how important is it that the writing be clear and correct for this profession? extremely important. first off, nurses following your care need to know what happenned during your shift such as: times, meds given, problems, vital signs, changes. also, if ever you are called to court because of a law suit, you must be able to look at your past documentation and know that you met the standards of practice for your facility and to see exactly what care you provided so it can be deemed you did what any prudent nurse would have done. do you have it documented that you turned your pt. every two hours? if not and they got a bed sore....medicare could deny payment and deem the cost of treating the sore a "preventable medical problem" that was caused by negligent nursing care. did you document your ventillated pt's head of the bed was consistenly 30 degrees or higher? if not, and your pt. developed vap (ventillator associated pneumonia) two things could happen: one, insurance may not pay and deem it preventable or two a family member could contact a lawyer. i would recommend to any nurse to make at least one nursing note per shift, especially if a pt does not do well, has behaviour problems or if there are any type of family complaints or you see poor coping skills from family or the pt themselves. and especially if a family member request to see the chart or if they are writing down what meds are being given.
(7) does clear organization in writing matter in this profession? yes, events need to be documented as they occurred with responses to those events as they occurred. you must use objectivity, and documented what you can measure...not what your opinion is.
(8) are high school and college english courses essential for this career? why do you or don't you think so? proper use of grammar and the ability to spell and interpret what you read are very important. do i think you need to be a journalist...no. but when others read what you write, they need to be able to visualize what you are saying and you need to be able to comprehend at a college level the written word.
(9) do you do research? yes, nursing is ever changing. new technologies, new cures, new medications are a constant as is change. there are so many diseases and some you only see a few times and you have to know what it is you are treating. its just as important to know what not to do as it is what to do. we recently had a pt who had brugata syndrome which i had never heard of. that night, i looked up an article at a creditable website, printed off the material and passed it on to the nurse following me who could not remember what it was either. we do the same thing with new medications, new machines we use, new policies.
(10) do you have to write performance reviews? peer reviews, yes. and its not easy to always answer those questions. for as much as they want to know the positive attributes of a fellow colleague, they also want you to list where improvement may be needed. our charge nurses do write the performance review, each being assigned a certain number to do and a deadline to have them done by.
(11) if so, is it important these are written well? why?of course, not only does it ensure that facility policy and procedure are being maintained but that nurses strengths and weaknesses are being described correctly. for instance, if i have excellent customer service skills but i am not engaged in doing anything extra for the unit then i should not be described as average for customer service and average for being engaged. also, examples of what i do or don't do should be mentioned in a way that my manager can visualize what is being said to prevent him/her from speculating or assuming.
on a personal note, yes care plans are mostly pre-printed and its a pain to have to do them for clinicals...however, they do teach you what needs to be physically done for a pt and requires you to think through writing a care plan.
yes, papers on disease processes are a pain, but it teaches you how to sort out creditable from non-creditable sources that you will seek out as mentioned above.
yes, if you have to write out drug cards....its busy work, but when you do go to look up a drug, you understand the format of a drug reference and you know common from non-common side effects as well as important factors to consider like with lopressor (metoprolol) a beta blocker....always check a bp first and if the heart rate is less than 60 or if they are on any type of vasopressor...you do not give it....these are the little pearls you learn from the many writing assignments in nursing school that only serve to make you keen at documentation once your out on your own and its all up to you. hope this helps and makes all the busy work seem not so pointless for you.
also in addition to that any kind of advice about preparing for nursing in general would also help round out the report.
thanks a million! :)

(1) how important is writing in this profession? it is very important to write well and to be able to express precisely things such as, events, times dates, what was said and to be able to do so objectively.

(2) how often do you write a day, a week? every day i work, i write and make nursing notes to describe a pts behavior, thought processes and what has been taught to the pt regarding care, medications and what to expect during the shift.

(3) for what occasions do you write?see #2

(4) who do you write to? pharmacy for orders, nursing care orders, radiology testing, cardiology testing and also emails to managers-unit and/or case managers with questions or concerns related to my job or a service needed for the pt such as medication assistance or complaints from pts or family members. i also had to write out a detailed description of an event that was put in my employee file after a pt's family complained about me and threatened to bring a lawsuit against the hospital. the family member appeared to be under the influence but still and yet, this remains in my employee file and i have a copy of it for my own records. always make a copy for your own records!!!!!!!!!!!

(5) do you write and/or give presentations? depending on what tier of nurse you are....the higher the tier the more responsibilities you may have. for instance, we have a heart walk with the american heart association each year so flyers and information have to be presented to recruit employees to participate. and if you get any type of financial assistance from the hospital to attend seminars, you are usually required to make a poster board or do a quick presentation about what you learned to your colleagues.

(6) how important is it that the writing be clear and correct for this profession? extremely important. first off, nurses following your care need to know what happenned during your shift such as: times, meds given, problems, vital signs, changes. also, if ever you are called to court because of a law suit, you must be able to look at your past documentation and know that you met the standards of practice for your facility and to see exactly what care you provided so it can be deemed you did what any prudent nurse would have done. do you have it documented that you turned your pt. every two hours? if not and they got a bed sore....medicare could deny payment and deem the cost of treating the sore a "preventable medical problem" that was caused by negligent nursing care. did you document your ventillated pt's head of the bed was consistenly 30 degrees or higher? if not, and your pt. developed vap (ventillator associated pneumonia) two things could happen: one, insurance may not pay and deem it preventable or two a family member could contact a lawyer. i would recommend to any nurse to make at least one nursing note per shift, especially if a pt does not do well, has behaviour problems or if there are any type of family complaints or you see poor coping skills from family or the pt themselves. and especially if a family member request to see the chart or if they are writing down what meds are being given.

(7) does clear organization in writing matter in this profession? yes, events need to be documented as they occurred with responses to those events as they occurred. you must use objectivity, and documented what you can measure...not what your opinion is.

(8) are high school and college english courses essential for this career? why do you or don't you think so? proper use of grammar and the ability to spell and interpret what you read are very important. do i think you need to be a journalist...no. but when others read what you write, they need to be able to visualize what you are saying and you need to be able to comprehend at a college level the written word.

(9) do you do research? yes, nursing is ever changing. new technologies, new cures, new medications are a constant as is change. there are so many diseases and some you only see a few times and you have to know what it is you are treating. its just as important to know what not to do as it is what to do. we recently had a pt who had brugata syndrome which i had never heard of. that night, i looked up an article at a creditable website, printed off the material and passed it on to the nurse following me who could not remember what it was either. we do the same thing with new medications, new machines we use, new policies.

(10) do you have to write performance reviews? peer reviews, yes. and its not easy to always answer those questions. for as much as they want to know the positive attributes of a fellow colleague, they also want you to list where improvement may be needed. our charge nurses do write the performance review, each being assigned a certain number to do and a deadline to have them done by.

(11) if so, is it important these are written well? why?of course, not only does it ensure that facility policy and procedure are being maintained but that nurses strengths and weaknesses are being described correctly. for instance, if i have excellent customer service skills but i am not engaged in doing anything extra for the unit then i should not be described as average for customer service and average for being engaged. also, examples of what i do or don't do should be mentioned in a way that my manager can visualize what is being said to prevent him/her from speculating or assuming.

on a personal note, yes care plans are mostly pre-printed and its a pain to have to do them for clinicals...however, they do teach you what needs to be physically done for a pt and requires you to think through writing a care plan.

yes, papers on disease processes are a pain, but it teaches you how to sort out creditable from non-creditable sources that you will seek out as mentioned above.

yes, if you have to write out drug cards....its busy work, but when you do go to look up a drug, you understand the format of a drug reference and you know common from non-common side effects as well as important factors to consider like with lopressor (metoprolol) a beta blocker....always check a bp first and if the heart rate is less than 60 or if they are on any type of vasopressor...you do not give it....these are the little pearls you learn from the many writing assignments in nursing school that only serve to make you keen at documentation once your out on your own and its all up to you. hope this helps and makes all the busy work seem not so pointless for you.

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Oct 3, 2010

i also had to write out a detailed description of an event that was put in my employee file after a pt's family complained about me and threatened to bring a lawsuit against the hospital. the family member appeared to be under the influence but still and yet, this remains in my employee file and i have a copy of it for my own records. always make a copy for your own records!!!!!!!!!!!

actually, when you keep your own records of events that occur and a lawsuit is, in fact, brought against either you or the hospital, those personal records are considered discoverable documents. it is best to always file an incident report, which then gets handled by legal, and you are then protected.

Scarlette Wings · Oct 3, 2010

(1) how important is writing in this profession?

there is an old saying, "if it isn't charted then it wasn't done." i totally agree.

there is also the fact that one day sitting in a court of law reading one's own documentation may be the only legal defense that they have in a lawsuit.

care plans, patient assessments, interventions, and patient education are all documented. the need for being able to communicate efficiently cannot be understated.

(2) how often do you write a day, a week?

nurses normally document a minimum of every two hours. if the patient is critical, then nurses document more frequently.

(3) for what occasions do you write?

i document every patient or patient related interaction, medical intervention, assessment, change in condition, and the patient's response to their care.

i also write power points and hand outs for both patient and staff education.

i free lance for numerous reasons.

(4) who do you write to?

at work i write "to" whoever would be reading the chart and need to understand the care the patient received. i also write with a lawyer in mind.

(5) do you write and/or give presentations?

i actually do both.

(6) how important is it that the writing be clear and correct for this profession?

clear communication increases the likelihood that the material you are sharing will be understood. i also think of writing as art, such as with a "painting" only using words.

(7) does clear organization in writing matter in this profession?

material that is disorganized and poorly written insinuates a lack of professionalism.

(8) are high school and college english courses essential for this career? why do you or don't you think so?

a solid grasp of the english language is a vital tool if you are in the usa. on the other hand, i also believe that regardless of what country you may work in, you must have a grasp of the language used in that country. you must be able to comprehend what is said to you, but a nurse must also be able to convey that information to others.

(9) do you do research?

yes, i read and use research for my job and do participate in the research of others.

(10) do you have to write performance reviews?

thank heavens in my present role i do not do employee reviews. i do have to write disciplinary actions.

(11) if so, is it important these are written well? why?

all material a nurse writes should be free of opinion and bias. nurses should document facts and not opinions or conclusions unless they are substantiated with facts that would lead most any reader to the same conclusion. nurses have to be objective and honest. in documenting an employee issue, there is a greater need for clearly stating the facts to remove any pretenses or bias.

i hope this helps. good luck.

amara827 · Oct 3, 2010

What type of program are you in? What type of prerequisite English composition courses did you take for the program? Can you take from multiple sources or are you suppose to have an interview with one nurse? What format are you suppose to write it in (APA, MLA, etc...)? What year are you in the program? What state are you in?

Its a ADN program in Texas. It's in MLA format, Im not in the program yet, I am a pre-nursing student (about a year left) and all of this is for my pre-req Enlgish Composition class. And as long the questions are being answered by Nurses not just some random google "fact", I can take answers from as many sources as possible. The more the better :)

But thank you all for the help, its all very helpful

& again the more the better so keep it coming please!

amara827 · Oct 3, 2010

i take it the person who wrote the questions has a pet peeve about communication issues.

as in me? not at all, i didn't even write the questions my professor did. i am actually really excited about this report. i didnt mean to make it seem like this is something im not looking forward to. :) :redpinkhe