Conclusion

Throughout this class I have learned many new and interesting ideas about writing as a health care professional.  As much as I wish I will never have to write again once I finish college, I know that is not the case.  Throughout my career I will be able to use the writing techniques I have learned this semester from this course.  The first thing that is going to help me once I finish college is how to write a professional resume and cover letter.  I have been practicing writing “fake” resumes since middle school, and cannot wait until I am finally able to create my professional resume for a nursing job.  Throughout my career I will be writing many documentations, e-mails, and maybe even creating presentations, all of which I have become more familiar with this semester.  It is important to know the correct way in order to get your information across in a professional manner.  I believe that this course was a necessary course before beginning my nursing sequence courses. 

Documentation

There are many different fields of health care in which you may end up working such as: nursing homes, doctor offices, hospitals, out-patient surgery offices, and many more.  In healthcare documentation of everything you do for a patient is very important in order for the patient to receive the best care.  Documentation is also important since it is a record of what you have accomplished for your employer to view.  Documentation is primarily done on a computer.  Different facilities may use a different program for documentation, but they are all similar.  It is important to make sure that your documentation is clear to others.  You should also use professional terminology within your documentations.  Documentation is also used for billing purposes, if there is no record of the services the patient has received, then insurance cannot bill for it.  Documentation of a patient leaves a long paper-trail of their previous medical history, medications that they are on, treatments they are receiving, and all other details of the patients’ medical needs.   Documentation is a very important process in which a health care provider will use from day to day.

I recently transferred to a new job, working in the Emergency Department.  I am still in my first month in my new position, but have already realized how important that my documentation is.  Before my first day on the floor I had to take a class on the EPIC documentation system that Carilion uses.  It is amazing to me how much information this system has on each patient.  Since I began on the floor, I have realized how necessary that my documentation along with everyone else involved in a patients care is.  I find myself checking EPIC in between every patients room to make sure that nothing new has come up that needs to be addressed.  I believe that my experience in my current job will be very helpful to me in my future as a nurse.

Finalizing a Paper

Once you have created a rough draft of your paper or presentation is important to thoroughly edit it.  Sometime you may have more than one rough draft, which is okay.  Before you finalize a draft you should make sure that you proofread it for typing and grammar errors.  Other than spelling and grammar mistakes it is also important to make sure that your point is clear to the reader and that your writing flows together well.  In order to avoid misspelled words, I use spell-check on my computer.  Although spell check is very helpful it is important to remember to read over your work many times in order to make sure spell check corrected the word you meant.  Another way to begin proofreading your work is to have someone else review it for you; they may see something that you have missed.  I really like to have someone else read my rough draft for me in order to give me constructive feedback.  While you are reviewing you work it is important to make sure the reader is going to understand what you are saying.  Once you have gone over your drafts a couple of times and made sure that your spelling and grammar is correct and that your paper flows you can begin your final draft.

Annotated Bibliography

Throughout this semester and while working on the final paper I have realized how important that the annotated bibliography is.  I do not recall using an annotated bibliography in the past, but believe that it made the writing process a lot easier for the final paper.  I often have a hard time knowing where to begin with my research.  Since I had to turn in the annotated bibliography weeks before the rough draft was due I had a head start on my research.  As a procrastinator, it was very helpful for me to have all of my research done before I started to write my paper.  Once I had all of my research ready I was able to sit down and compile the majority of my paper in a timely matter.  I think that from now on when I am assigned a research paper I will make my own annotated bibliography even if it is not a requirement. 

"Writing is a skill, not a talent."

According to Catherine Coffin, an Author in Writing, Speaking, & Communication skills for Health Professionals by the Health Care communications Group, “Writing is a skill, not a talent.  It can be learned, but you must practice to become proficient” (p. 73).  In chapter 4 of this book, Coffin offers many very good tips on how to become a better writer and the importance of a first draft.  The first problem Coffin addressed was getting started.  I believe that for most people, as well as myself getting started is normally a big challenge.  Coffin stated “We procrastinate because the dread of staring at the blank page or computer screen while surrounded by piles of books, reprints, and note cards is overwhelming” (p.74).  Coffin suggested to free-write in order to begin, she said to just sit down and write for 20 minutes without checking spelling, grammar, data or references.  After the 20 minutes you are likely to have a good start on your paper and at that point are able to begin editing and organizing your material.  I believe that this technique will be very helpful to me in the future in order to begin a paper.  In the past, I have found that once I actually get started on my paper, the rest of it comes easy, the hardest part is finding where to begin.

Other issues that Coffin addressed are overuse of passive voice, too many nouns, and structure and organization.  Coffin explains why it is important to write in a more active voice rather than passive voice, which is another area in which I struggle with.  She states “Active and passive do not refer to tense (that is, to past-tense or present tense verbs); rather, writing done in the active voice makes it clear to the reader who or what is performing the action in your sentences” (p. 75).  The next issue she addressed was over using nouns.  Often times, people believe that adding extra words to make their sentences longer and fill up more space is the correct way to write, but actually using verbs abundantly will shorten your sentences and make them clearer.  Coffin also addresses how to organize your paper.  It is important to organize the paper in a way that is easy for your reader to understand and keeps them interested.  The most important information should be at the beginning and the end of the entire document, and also within each section and paragraph. 

I believe that all of these tips will be helpful to myself and others while constructing papers.