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Mackenzie SLC. Writing for Public Health: Strategies for Teaching Writing in a School or Program of Public Health. Public Health Rep 2018; 133:614-618. [PMID: 30011382 DOI: 10.1177/0033354918785374] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
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Miller LC, Russell CL, Cheng AL, Zembles S. Testing the efficacy of a scaffolded writing intervention with online degree-completion nursing students: A quasi-experimental design. Nurse Educ Pract 2018; 32:115-121. [PMID: 30269761 DOI: 10.1016/j.nepr.2018.06.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2017] [Revised: 03/24/2018] [Accepted: 06/24/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Writing should receive dedicated time in the nursing classroom for students to become competent writers, offering practical experiences for them to critically think and organize their ideas into meaningful messages. The purpose of this pre-post quasi-experimental study was to compare implementation of a scaffolded sequence of writing assignments (intervention) to typical writing assignments (comparison) in final coursework for baccalaureate nursing (BSN) completion students. Student writing self-efficacy and writing competency were measured pre and post coursework using the Post Secondary Writerly Self-Efficacy Scale, 6 + 1 Trait scale and Holistic scale. A convenience sample of 78 BSN-completion students at two Midwestern universities in the US were recruited to participate. The sample was primarily female (83%) and Caucasian (81%). There were no significant differences between the two groups on self-efficacy scores (p = 0.594). Significant group differences were noted on writing competency as assessed by the 6 + 1 Trait scale (p = 0.004) but not the Holistic scale (p = 0.024). No significant correlation between writing self-efficacy scores and writing competency were apparent (Holistic scale, p = 0.601; 6 + 1 Trait scale, p = 0.615). Writing skill-building needs attention to assure student competency. Educational interventions implemented in BSN education must be tested for efficacy and effectiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Louise C Miller
- University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing, School of Nursing Building, University of Missouri-Columbia, Columbia, MO, 65211, USA.
| | - Cynthia L Russell
- University of Missouri Kansas City School of Nursing and Health Studies, 2464 Charlotte St, Kansas City, MO, 64108, USA.
| | - An-Lin Cheng
- University of Missouri Kansas City School of Medicine, 2411 Holmes St, Kansas City, MO, 64108, USA.
| | - Shawn Zembles
- University of Missouri Kansas City School of Nursing and Health Studies, 2464 Charlotte St, Kansas City, MO, 64108, USA.
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Jefferies D, McNally S, Roberts K, Wallace A, Stunden A, D'Souza S, Glew P. The importance of academic literacy for undergraduate nursing students and its relationship to future professional clinical practice: A systematic review. NURSE EDUCATION TODAY 2018; 60:84-91. [PMID: 29055236 DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2017.09.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2017] [Revised: 08/31/2017] [Accepted: 09/30/2017] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVES This systematic review was designed to assess the importance of academic literacy for undergraduate nursing students and its relationship to future professional clinical practice. It aimed to explore the link between academic literacy and writing in an undergraduate nursing degree and the development of critical thinking skills for their future professional clinical practice. DESIGN A systematic review of qualitative studies and expert opinion publications. DATA SOURCES A systematic literature search was undertaken of the following databases: ERIC, PubMed, CINAHL, MEDLINE and Scopus. All papers reviewed were from 2000 to 2016 and were written in English. REVIEW METHODS We identified 981 studies and expert opinion papers from the selected databases. After reviewing key words and abstracts for the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 48 papers were selected for review. These were read and reread, with 22 papers, including one thesis, selected for quality appraisal. One paper was discarded due to the exclusion criteria. RESULTS Three major themes were evident from this study. First, students need assistance to develop tertiary level academic literacy skills when they commence their undergraduate nursing degree. Second, that teaching practices need to be consistent in both designing assessments and in giving feedback to students, in order to assist improvement of academic literacy skills. And finally, academic literacy can facilitate critical thinking when students are assessed using discipline specific genres that relate to their future professional nursing practice. CONCLUSIONS This review highlights the importance of critical thinking in clinical nursing practice and its strong relationship with academic writing skills. It has shown critical thinking is discipline specific and nursing students need to be taught discipline specific literacy genres in undergraduate nursing degrees. Nursing has a diverse educational and cultural mix of students, and educators should not assume academic literacy skills upon commencement of an undergraduate nursing programme.
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Affiliation(s)
- Diana Jefferies
- Western Sydney University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
| | - Stephen McNally
- Western Sydney University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
| | - Katriona Roberts
- Western Sydney University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
| | - Anna Wallace
- Western Sydney University, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
| | - Annette Stunden
- Western Sydney University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia.
| | - Suzanne D'Souza
- Western Sydney University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia. SD'
| | - Paul Glew
- Western Sydney University, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Locked Bag 1797, Penrith, NSW 2751, Australia; Centre for Applied Nursing Research (CANR), Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research, Australia.
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Fauchald SK, Bastian H. Utilizing an Interdisciplinary Approach to Increase Student Writing Abilities in Doctor of Nurse Practice Programs. J Prof Nurs 2015; 31:64-70. [PMID: 25601247 DOI: 10.1016/j.profnurs.2014.05.004] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2013] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
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Evidence-Based Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes for Scholarly Writing Development Across all Levels of Nursing Education. J Prof Nurs 2014; 30:341-6. [PMID: 25150420 DOI: 10.1016/j.profnurs.2013.11.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2013] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Gazza EA, Shellenbarger T, Hunker DF. Developing as a scholarly writer: the experience of students enrolled in a PhD in nursing program in the United States. NURSE EDUCATION TODAY 2013; 33:268-274. [PMID: 22608764 DOI: 10.1016/j.nedt.2012.04.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2012] [Revised: 04/05/2012] [Accepted: 04/12/2012] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Graduates of doctoral nursing programs are expected to disseminate knowledge through scholarly writing, yet faculty teaching doctoral nursing students in two specific programs in western Pennsylvania in the United States noted students enter their doctoral programs with varying writing skills. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to uncover the lived experience of developing as a scholarly writer. Data were collected through the use of a demographic questionnaire and personal interviews with 10 students enrolled in their first semester of coursework in a traditional, rather than online, 60-credit PhD in nursing program at a large state university in western Pennsylvania. All interviews were recorded and transcribed and served as rich data sources. Data were analyzed using a systematic approach consistent with hermeneutic phenomenology. Themes uncovered included (a) coming to know about scholarly writing, (b) shifting thinking in order to write scholarly, (c) giving birth: the pain and the pleasure of scholarly writing, and (d) putting all the pieces together into the final product. Findings from this study can help faculty to understand the experiences of nursing student scholarly writing development. Recommendations based on the findings include a collection of teaching strategies that can be used to facilitate scholarly writer development across all levels of nursing education.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Gazza
- Chatham University, Woodland Road, 227 Coolidge, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, United States.
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Abstract
UNLABELLED PROBLEM OF INTEREST: Nursing faculty at a private, medium-sized university noted that students in their online Registered Nurse to Bachelor of Science in Nursing, hybrid Master of Science in Nursing, and online Doctor of Nursing Practice programs displayed varying scholarly writing abilities. PURPOSE This article proposes an evidence-based comprehensive support framework, or scaffold that can be used in nursing education to facilitate the development of scholarly writing abilities in students. PRACTICE IMPLICATION The writing scaffold is recommended for use by nursing faculty to facilitate the development of scholarly writing abilities within nursing, across nursing program levels, and across disciplines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elizabeth A Gazza
- Department of Nursing, Chatham University, Pittsburgh, PA 15232, USA.
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Abstract
BACKGROUND Written communication skills are critical for nursing practice. However, nursing faculty often find students unprepared to communicate clearly and effectively in writing. This integrative review identifies and discusses specific approaches used in baccalaureate programs to teach writing skills to prelicensure nursing students. METHODS Electronic databases PubMed, CINALHL, and ERIC were used. Nine articles were found describing programs that taught writing skills to prelicensure nursing students in baccalaureate programs. All articles were published since 1990 and met inclusion and exclusion criteria. Writing programs were divided into two categories: stand-alone programs and programs integrated across a nursing curriculum. Instructional strategies were analyzed to identify common elements. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Five common elements of such programs were identified: short writing assignments, faculty training, sequential writing assignments, giving students examples of successful writing or explaining grading rubrics, and revision after faculty or peer feedback. Across-curriculum programs appeared to include these components more often than stand-alone programs. CONCLUSION Writing programs implemented across a nursing curriculum may be more likely to include certain common components than are stand-alone programs. There is a critical need to measure both short- and long-term outcomes of these writing programs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Heidi Troxler
- University of North Carolina Hospitals, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
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Roberts ST, Goss G. Use of an Online Writing Tutorial to Improve Writing Skills in Nursing Courses. Nurse Educ 2009; 34:262-5. [DOI: 10.1097/nne.0b013e3181bc740d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Luthy KE, Peterson NE, Lassetter JH, Callister LC. Successfully Incorporating Writing Across the Curriculum with Advanced Writing in Nursing. J Nurs Educ 2009; 48:54-9. [DOI: 10.3928/01484834-20090101-07] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Johnson MK, Symes L, Bernard L, Landson MJ, Carroll TL. Mentoring disadvantaged nursing students through technical writing workshops. Nurse Educ 2007; 32:168-72. [PMID: 17627209 DOI: 10.1097/01.nne.0000281087.43088.f5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
Abstract
Recent studies have identified a problematic gap for nursing students between terse clinical writing and formal academic writing. This gap can create a potential barrier to academic and workplace success, especially for disadvantaged nursing students who have not acquired the disciplinary conventions and sophisticated writing required in upper-level nursing courses. The authors demonstrate the need for writing-in-the-discipline activities to enhance the writing skills of nursing students, describe the technical writing workshops they developed to mentor minority and disadvantaged nursing students, and provide recommendations to stimulate educator dialogue across disciplines and institutions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Molly K Johnson
- Department of English, University of Houston-Downtown, Houston, TX 77002, USA.
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Abstract
The Writing-To-Learn Attitude Survey (WTLAS) was developed to measure the effects of using writing-to-learn activities in the classroom, but adequate psychometric data have not been reported for the measure. Using the pretest scores from 149 basic and RN-to-BSN nursing students enrolled in a Nursing Management and Leadership course, the reliability and validity of the WTLAS were evaluated. The initial 30-item measure demonstrated acceptable reliability, but the item intercorrelations suggested revision of the subscales was appropriate. After exploratory factor analyses, the WTLAS was revised to 21 items and consists of two factors: Apprehensions about Writing Abilities and Perceived Benefits of Writing-To-Learn Activities. Both subscales possess acceptable internal consistency reliability and conceptually sound, significant correlations with a separate measure of writing apprehension. The revised WTLAS appears to have adequate psychometric properties for further use in the evaluation of students' perceptions of writing-to-learn activities.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee A Schmidt
- University of Miami, School of Nursing, 5801 Red Road, Coral Gables, FL 33143, USA.
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Abstract
The writing-to-learn (WTL) instructional strategy has not received sufficient empirical investigation. Using a pretest-posttest, quasi-experimental, non-equivalent, control group design, the WTL strategy was evaluated with 87 undergraduate basic and RN-to-BSN nursing students enrolled in a Nursing Leadership and Management course. Students participating in the course perceived significant benefits of the WTL approach. A significant decrease in writing apprehension was found in the experimental group on two separate measures of writing apprehension. These findings are congruent with the theoretical WTL literature and anecdotal reports of the benefits of using the WTL strategy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lee A Schmidt
- University of Miami, School of Nursing, 5801 Red Road, Coral Gables, FL 33143, USA.
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Abstract
The authors detail a Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) exercise that combines the Department of Health and Human Services' Secretary's Award for Innovations in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention (Secretary's Award) and the DHHS document Healthy People 2010. The authors discuss the writing competition as a way to encourage innovative problem solving and provide curricular instructions for using Healthy People 2010 and the Secretary's Award as a WAC exercise.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anne M Rhome
- The American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Washington, DC, USA
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Abstract
Critical thinking is integral to nursing practice and education. The introduction of Internet-based and Internet-assisted instruction provides an opportunity to explore critical thinking with nursing students in a new format. The author reports on a hybrid or blended Internet-assisted course structure that incorporates online discussion and a new method for assessing student critical thinking.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carol J Leppa
- Nursing Program, University of Washington, Box 358532, 18115 Campus Way NE, Bothell, WA 98001-8246, USA.
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