Evaluating Scientific Writing Skill in DNP Program Students

Building a Consortium to Address Graduate Nursing Student Academic Preparedness

BACKGROUND

The demand for nurses in advanced practice roles is expected to grow by 38% by 2032. The nationwide faculty shortage is also a concern, as it correlates to the nursing shortage. Successful retention strategies for graduate nursing students can strengthen the rising demand of specialized nursing roles.

PROBLEM

The transition from clinical practice to the graduate student environment can be daunting to some practicing nurses who may struggle with program completion. It is well documented that graduate nursing students lack academic preparation for the rigorous scholarly work.

APPROACH

A national onboarding consortium of graduate nursing faculty was formed to meet regularly and utilize a model onboarding program to address graduate nursing students' academic preparedness.

CONCLUSIONS

Structured onboarding programs show promising results. The programs were easily adopted to support students from various backgrounds and regions within the United States. Benefits of forming a consortium to address a national issue were evident.

Student Reflections on Learning in a Doctoral-Level Writing Course

BACKGROUND

Programs to improve student writing have been deployed widely in nursing graduate education, but few operational indicators exist for measuring their value.

PROBLEM

The challenge of measuring outcomes reflects the complexity of what transpires when graduate students write. Better understanding is needed of what it means to students to "learn" from writing support.

APPROACH

A full-semester writing course was implemented in a nursing science PhD program. In formative course assessment activities, students identified problems in early drafts of their work, which they subsequently learned to detect and resolve. In this article, students report what was learned.

CONCLUSION

Writing skills, like clinical skills, are intertwined with intellectual maturation and sense of professional identity. Writing, like clinical learning, requires an investment of time and labor far beyond what is typical in didactic approaches to classroom-based graduate education. Our experience suggests a need to reconceptualize writing pedagogy in nursing.

ChatGPT for Automated Writing Evaluation in Scholarly Writing Instruction

BACKGROUND

Effective strategies for developing scholarly writing skills in postsecondary nursing students are needed. Generative artificial intelligence (GAI) tools, such as ChatGPT, for automated writing evaluation (AWE) hold promise for mitigating challenges associated with scholarly writing instruction in nursing education. This article explores the suitability of ChatGPT for AWE in writing instruction.

METHOD

ChatGPT feedback on 42 nursing student texts from the Michigan Corpus of Upper-Level Student Papers was assessed. Assessment criteria were derived from recent AWE research.

RESULTS

ChatGPT demonstrated utility as an AWE tool. Its scoring performance demonstrated stricter grading than human raters, related feedback to macro-level writing features, and supported multiple submissions and learner autonomy.

CONCLUSION

Despite concerns surrounding GAI in academia, educators can accelerate the feedback process without increasing their workload, and students can receive individualized feedback by incorporating AWE provided by ChatGPT into the writing process. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(12):721-727.].

Discipline-Specific Writing Support in Graduate Nursing

BACKGROUND

Scholarly writing is an essential skill for a doctorally prepared nurse. Despite the importance of writing, there are limited data on how best to support students in the process of writing skill acquisition. This article describes the development, growth, and effects of a writing support program for graduate nursing students.

METHOD

A writing support program was initiated with a focus on providing discipline-specific support. Activities included oneon-one coaching, workshops, and collaboration with faculty to offer writing content within or alongside courses.

RESULTS

Student and faculty evaluations show the benefits of the writing support program to enhance student confidence and skill in writing.

CONCLUSION

Development of a writing support program has provided a valuable resource to graduate students and faculty in the school of nursing. Writing must be intentionally included in doctoral programs and supported with an array of practices including discipline-specific feedback. [J Nurs Educ. 2023;62(X):XXX-XXX.].

Dissemination of doctor of nursing practice project findings: Benefits and challenges associated with publishing in healthcare journals

BACKGROUND

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs require a project to improve outcomes in a health care setting. However, dissemination methods vary.

PURPOSE

This evaluation examined benefits and challenges associated with submitting project manuscripts to a peer-reviewed health care journal in a DNP program with this requirement.

METHODS

Benefits and challenges were assessed with surveys completed by 85 DNP program alumni and 28 DNP mentors and by interviewing 5 faculty who teach in the DNP program and 5 editors of nursing journals.

FINDINGS

Benefits of completing a manuscript included sharing knowledge to improve health care outcomes and enhancing nursing scholarship. Among alumni, 81% reported manuscript development was beneficial and 69% published their work. Most students, most faculty, and all editors endorsed the requirement with alternatives for projects lacking rigor or innovation. Challenges included need for faculty involvement and editorial/statistical resources.

DISCUSSION

Despite challenges, there are benefits of publishing rigorous and innovative DNP work.

Scientific writing development: Improve DNP student skill and writing efficiency

BACKGROUND

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) students lack sufficient opportunities to practice writing. Students and faculty require clear expectations and consistent feedback to improve skills.

OBJECTIVE

This study evaluated a rubric-driven scientific writing development program.

DESIGN

A mixed methods design was used.

SETTING

The study was conducted in a post-Master's DNP Program.

PARTICIPANTS

The sample included DNP students and faculty.

METHODS

The intervention was delivered to 10 students and writing proficiency was assessed over five semesters. Overall doctoral project quality and rigor were assessed at the end of the program and compared to a similar group of students (n = 20). Seven faculty and eight students participated in qualitative interviews.

RESULTS

Performance improved from Semesters 1 to 5; and though quality and rigor did not differ, the intervention group's final papers were more efficiently written with approximately 17 fewer pages and an average review time of eight fewer minutes than the comparison group. Participants identified the rubric, feedback, and scaffolding as helpful program components.

CONCLUSIONS

Scientific writing development is essential to DNP education. The intervention improved skill performance and writing efficiency.