You are on page 1of 6

Bowers 1

Expressions of Writing in the Field of Nursing Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ,Martin Luther King, Jr. I found the above quote in one in one of the articles I read about the issue of bullying in nursing. Through my research I found that there are many different kinds of writing that go into the field of nursing. On a day to day basis it may just be summarizing the condition of the patient for the doctors and other staff members that are caring for them. Most of the articles I read are examples of writing in the field of nursing. They are academic or professional. I found it impossible to find an article written for the general public that were of writing in nursing. There are many articles written to nurses about current issues in nursing. There are also many articles written by educating nurses that are teaching the student nursing population. Throughout this project there will be summarizations of six of those articles, an interview with a person that is in my field, and lastly this report will summarizes both the interview and the annotated bibliography. Nursing throughout history has not always been a respected field, but a special woman named Florence Nightingale, also known as the lady with the lamp because of the lamp she carried while checking on patients during the Crimean War, was the first woman to set up nursing schools all over the world. She also set up many hospitals that were vital during the Civil War. Nightingale was from a wealthy upper class family that believed that women were not meant to have careers. Early in her life, she many texts that later helped fuel the feminist movement, but were not published until after her death. Since then there have many advances in medicine in general, although most of the major advances have been in the last 30 to 40 years and have evolved so rapidly because of the technological revolution. Even 50 years ago the information that we knew wouldnt even compare to we know today about the human body. If it werent for those that challenged beliefs and created new ways of

Bowers
examining the human body we would still be in the dark ages, believing that sickness was evil spirits that have entered the body. Once, if you had to see a doctor it meant that you were a goner for sure, practices like bloodletting although not beneficial was not the worst thing that health providers attempted. Its true that we have come a great distance from wearing masks to try to scare the sickness out of the body. If those of the past could time travel to what medicine is like now they would be in sheer amazement of what we can do. The only reason we know about the past and learn from it, is that physicians and nurses understood the importance of writing down their knowledge for us to read, apply, and evolve upon. There have been many pioneers throughout medical history, from Louis Pasture, to Alexandra Fleming, to Florence Nightingale, to your own family physician and all the nurses everywhere. It is to these people that we owe our gratitude for what they do on a daily basis, putting their needs second and the health and wellness of all the people they help first. There are various forms of writing that are needed in the field of nursing. Specific kinds of reading and writing that will come up the most in the real world will be charting patients progress for the doctor and other health practitioners. This is the most common way nurses communicate with other staff. From research done I found that if you are in a higher position there will be more of a demand for you to write reports, etc. for students and staff. The purpose of writing these texts can vary from teaching students a new machine or healing technique to writing up a possible incident that took place for liability reasons. The focus for much of my research was to inform nurses in the field and student nurses still currently in school. There are many online magazines dedicated to writing about current issues in nursing and for writing scholarly papers that nursing students can learn from. Some of these are OJIN; The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, and AJN, American Journal of Nursing. There are magazines that cater to the nursing student community, such as Nursing Standard. The people that work and publish these articles are those that are dedicated to raising the bar of care for people all over the world.

Bowers
One of the articles that I chose to write about as a part of my annotated bibliography was about two nurses and their experience in the nursing workforce and how they chose to be in the specific field of nursing they are in. Andrew Mcgovern, in his article, said something very poingnant: nurses are the face of the health industry, something very important to remember when in the field. Doctors may give medication and decide on treatment, but ultimately it is the nurse who takes care of the sick and dying. He also told a story of another nurse, Kiera Jones, that found her career in nursing those in the last days of their lives in their home settings. It takes a loving, supportive and enduring person to do this for mankind. This is important to remember when entering the vast field of nursing because if you find in one area something that you cannot handle there are so many others that your degree will be useful for. One example of a publication for professional level people in the field of nursing was on the issue of bullying in the workplace. There were many different articles written on this issue, which says that it is something that is happening on a global scale and affecting the industry in a very negative way. In both interviews I concluded, both nurses said that there is a saying related to this issue and it is called nurses eat their own. The way it is explained in articles is that makes for an unsafe work environment and can lead to more serious issues. This causes a nursing shortage because 1) nurses find that they cannot take the pressure, 2) more are ill from stress, and3) in some more serious cases, suicide. The article was written to help people recognize signs in the workplace if an employee is doing the bullying and for the employees that play victim to the harassment. This is an important issue to be aware of entering the field because you want an employer to be aware of the problems that take place in the staff, and more importantly have set guidelines in how to prevent these incidents from taking place. One of the last articles I read included an example of the more creative aspects of care, with a direct relation to writing in the industry. Used as an example to the nursing student community at the University of Wisconsin, The author wrote about a letter that had been written to a grieving family that

Bowers
had just lost their mother. It was from a nurse a home healthcare that had been touched by the love that was shared by the patient in relation to some of the worries the nurse had about her job. The patient was an ear and a voice in teaching the care provider how to be a more effective communicator in her job. The woman had made such a difference in her life she took the time to write a hand written letter to the family expressing her admiration of the patient. This experience was used as a teaching method for future nurses, to show them that care can extend outside the walls of whatever facility patients may find themselves in. Often time the family of those that are sick need just as much care as the patient themselves. Teachers Lee-Ellen Kirkhorn and Norah Arith-Kindree used this example to remind students that we have gotten too detached from others because of email and texting but that healing can come though the extra effort or thought of written thoughts may be just what patients and their families need in order to deal with all that they are going through. This is important to remember in any work place and in life in general because as a society we have detached ourselves from other people. It is important for us to have that contact in order remembering that we are human, and in the end we are all one. I have learned so much through this writing exercise. I entered this class probably over confident and found that I was overconfident. When given this final assignment, I thought that there wasnt going to be much information to find. And indeed, when it comes to being in the field of nursing there isnt a lot of in-depth writing involved unless one is at a higher management level. Most of the writing and reading that is applied to the job itself is charting patient progress. Even then computer programs summarize tasks and nurses choose one. What I did find, is that writing does come up a lot in the area of continuing education and staying current with ever evolving modern medicine. There are a lot of online journals and magazines that cater specifically to the nursing community. These involve writing problems that arise in the field and how to deal with families. Both nurses I interviewed said that dealing with the

Bowers
families is one of the hardest things about their jobs. And finally, I learned about issues that arise in the workplace with employee bullying and making sure that the workplace is a safe environment. Reading and writing doesnt come up in the sense that I would be doing it in great extent and detail, but it does come up on a daily basis. Through this process of research and interviewing, I learned many things about the field from what questions to ask future employers to how I can be a better caregiver one day in the future. Interviewing Mrs. Amott was very beneficial and gave me great enthusiasm that I have found my future profession. She was so detailed, and confirmed some of the research I did about bullying in the field, but gave me a different way to think about it. Health providers look out for their patients above all, even their own needs or wants. Mr. Mcgovern was right when he stated that nurses are the face of the healthcare industry. I was fascinated by the history of nursing and read about such influential people as Florence Nightingale who a pioneer for nurses everywhere. Nightingale was an influence in the womens movement through the writing in her early books. She was raised in a well to do family and they believed she was wasting her time, and worried that her sisters and mother were not investing in their own education. I never would have been able to have such a different perspective to this field if not for this assignment, although very hard, very educational. In my final conclusion, I feel that I have a bit of an advantage over other nursing students because of the research I did. In the future, when applying for jobs I can research current events in the field of nursing for interview question, and apply them to whether or not it is still something that I want to invest my time and money into. I feel that I know so much more than I had ever thought imaginable about this field and feel it wise to continually educate myself on it. The things that I have learned in this class have prepared and already helped me in my other classes with writing papers. I will only improve the more writing I do. And it will be an asset once in the field to be so experienced with academic writing. I feel that even if I dont become a nurse I will be a healer that is what I was born to be, and a

Bowers
part of that is healing though words and this class has shown me how to do that more effectively and efficiently. I would say to someone that is entering the field that it is wise to do research to see if this is really where he or she wants to be and whether or not he or she has the skill set and the courage to do what it takes to be a caregiver. I feel nursing is one of those thankless jobs that people expect nurses to just give and give. I have a newfound respect for what it takes to do what they do. So, to someone that is going into that area I would ask them to ask themselves that important question: do you have what it takes? I have had to ask myself that question many times, in Math, and in this class: do I have what it takes. I am not as confident in my writing ability as I once was, but with practice and patience I will improve the more I write. I feel that I have improved a bit, but I have a lot of room for more. I know now that writing isnt something I was born doing well it is a skill I need to practice and develope over time.

You might also like