Speaking from personal experience, many terms (antecedent, parallelism, noun absolutes, etc.) used in perfecting the writings of the proper English language are foreign to nurses.
Granted, as advanced practice nurses, we have practically written a novel of information by the time we graduate from our master’s program and are still unfamiliar with many English language terms other than APA writing style. Despite crafting an impressive field study filled with facts, statistics, and numerous informative findings and formulating individualized daily clinical patient care plans, advanced practice nurses are talented communicators, though not always efficient in perfecting their manuscripts. Forgiving their potential writing inadequacies, many major companies still choose to employ nurse writers in pursuit of their clinical competence and superior evidenced-based knowledge.
How Nurses Obtain Skills to Write Professionally
Although the skills to author the next great novel may not be ingrained in the mind of the average nurse, all is not lost. Nurses are highly adept at communicating complex concepts on all levels of comprehension, whether talking to a physician or a patient; it’s what we do every day. There are several ways to develop the necessary proficiencies for transporting clinical expertise into written education for both public and professional audiences. A few examples are as follows:
- Review your favorite blogs or pertinent publications for style/content ideas
- Read books targeting nurse writer tips, ‘how to’
- Familiarize yourself with content on nurse writer blogs for free information
- Take a writing course. Some are even nurse writer-specific
- Join a nurse writer Facebook group to learn from peers
- Choose a healthcare/nursing niche you know well to offer expert insight
- Choose a topic and write, write, write! ‘Practice makes perfect’
Whichever way (I recommend utilizing all available options) you decide to educate yourself and gain the confidence to dip your toes in the waters of being a nurse writer, the most imperative step is taking the first step: action. “As nursing and healthcare continue to grow, nurse writing is a promising field…(&) increasingly popular side hustle” (registerednursing.org) for nurses wanting to make extra money or graduate from the bedside into entrepreneurship.
Why Do Companies Want an Advance Practice Nurse to Write Content?
As nurses, we are not flawless when it comes to impeccable writing content (blog, website, informational brochure, etc.). Still, we know what patients and nurses aspire to know about healthcare and how to explain topics in an understandable manner.
Whether it’s explaining how to perform a procedure or how surgery is done, what to do before/after a procedure, and what to expect, content sourced from an advanced practice nurse creates confidence in knowing information came from a source experienced and well-versed in explaining these processes repeatedly. Although inexperienced in the equities of grammar, advanced practice nurses are committed to evolving into proficient writers of health as inspired by others. Whether it is rhetoric or scientific-based knowledge, nurses hold it all; you only need to unplug the medical jargon to expose the brilliance of nurses.
When a business is granted the opportunity to employ an advanced practice nurse for their content writing needs, the company will succeed others by considering clinical expertise over writing history when choosing new authors. With our combined education and experience, nurses, especially those with an advanced degree/certification, possess an in-depth understanding of health and its deterrents, making those in the profession firsthand experts on managing health situations and, therefore excellent at formulating health-related literature.
