Writing Development in Associate Degree in Nursing-to-Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing Students: Moving Out of the Comfort Zone

• Published in: The Journal of nursing education Vol. 56; no. 3; pp. 182 - 185
• Main Authors: Tyndall, Deborah E, Scott, Elaine S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States SLACK INCORPORATED 01.03.2017
• Subjects: Clinical Competence - standards; Content analysis; Curriculum - standards; Education, Nursing, Associate - standards; Education, Nursing, Baccalaureate - standards; Humans; Individualized Instruction; Learning Theories; Nursing; Nursing education; Nursing Process; Nursing Students; Qualitative research; Schools, Nursing; Self Efficacy; Skill Development; Students, Nursing - psychology; Writing; United States > US
• ISSN: 0148-4834; 1938-2421
• DOI: 10.3928/01484834-20170222-11

The nursing profession has made several unsuccessful attempts to differentiate practice between nurses with associate degrees and baccalaureate degrees entering the workforce. Writing competency has been identified as one potential area of differentiation. A descriptive, qualitative research design was used to explore Associate Degree in Nursing-to-Baccalaureate Degree in Nursing (ADN-to-BSN) graduates' perceptions of scholarly writing development in their baccalaureate studies. Nine recent graduates from a public college of nursing participated in semistructured interviews. Findings from content analysis revealed three phases of awareness in development of a scholarly writer: being a scholarly writer, assessing writing abilities, and connecting to practice. The study findings provide insight into competencies that could differentiate practice between ADN and BSN nurses entering the workforce. Although this study aimed to find out how ADN-to-BSN students are shaped as writers, findings suggest that the experience of learning to write may also be shaping students as professional nurses. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(3):182-185.].