Developing workplace writing skills for nurses: writing for different audiences in the health care system requires different skills. Here one nurse outlines some tips.

GOOD WRITING means good communication and nurses who are successful professionals are constantly involved in written communication.

Documentation is one of the most important forms of written communication for nurses. But nurses are also involved in other important forms of written communication. They collaborate in public health organisations to write proposals for funding, reports on the services provided and memos to health care providers. Nurses may make submissions to government on health policy, either individually or in collaboration with their professional organisations. Nurses also contribute to health care audit teams.

These forms of writing are important to ensure nursing maintains professional standards and an effective position within the health care system. However, although nurses learn the academic writing process, there is an immediate need to understand technical writing in order to produce effective and persuasive documents in the workplace.

What is technical writing?

Technical writing differs from what student nurses learn during their academic education. Teachers of technical writing believe this is because of the different purposes and audiences present in educational institutions and in workplaces. (1) In academic writing the student is writing to show critical thinking and to identify the breadth and depth of knowledge on a topic. Writing in the workplace is focused and aims to inform, persuade or help others complete tasks.

In order to write effectively, analysing the needs of the audience is crucial. In academic writing the audience is generally one person--the lecturer. At work, communication may address several different audiences, with different needs. Some may be familiar with your specialty, some may not. If writing for a specific organisation such as a health care audit body, reports need to reflect its philosophy.

Collaboration

Another characteristic of technical writing is that frequently documents are developed in collaboration with others, and team skills are needed. All stages of document development will benefit from the contribution of team members, with different perspectives and particular areas of knowledge. The essence of effective teamwork is, "to create a product through a collective effort that exceeds the quality of any individual endeavour". (2)

Literature suggests that as technology expands and information is accessed by a global, multi-cultural society, collaborative ways of working will be needed. (1) Working as part of a team improves communication and decision making, as members share information. There is also the benefit of sharing workloads.

One example of collaboration in developing documents in health care is the work done by audit teams. Quality Health New Zealand audits health care organisations and, as explained on its website, employs a team of surveyors, or health care auditors, to conduct surveys to give feedback on overall performance against a set of standards. The team submits a survey report as a summary of the findings. (3)

Developing writing skills

The former director of nursing and midwifery at Northland Crown Health Enterprise and its predecessor organisations, Elizabeth Lee, has been a credentialled surveyor with Quality Health New Zealand since 1997.

She has described how she developed her writing skills over several years' experience in a variety of nursing roles. (4) She was the director of nursing and midwifery in Northland from 1986 to 1998, with a one-year temporary assignment as acting chief nursing adviser with the Ministry of Health. During her years in nursing administration, she wrote reports, proposals on nursing delivery methods, as well as agenda items for board meetings. These became an important part of her daily work. She learned about writing for different audiences using a variety of document formats.

Skills in these forms of written communication develop from both experience and formal education. (4) For example, Lee soon realised board members were busy people. They required focused, easily digestible information. "If I didn't tell them [the main ideas] in the first paragraph ... I lost them. I learned an awful lot sitting at the table at the board meetings about what readers of two-inch-thick agendas actually took in and how important it was to get my message across in the first paragraph. I learned to be more succinct." (4)

Technical writing and nursing

It is useful for all nurses to learn effective writing skills to enhance their careers and ensure a nursing voice is heard at all levels in health care organisations. One of the most important aspects of this kind of writing is knowing your audience, what they want and expressing that in simple language. "Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them and tell them what you have told them." (4)

Several courses are offered that may assist nurses to develop technical communication skills for the workplace. These in dude not only writing skills but also the use of web technology as a communication tool. Some are offered on-line and provide an excellent introduction. Further information is available at the Society of Technical Communicators' web page: www.stc.org.

An ability to express a nursing perspective with clarity and conciseness, to a wide variety of people and organisations, is an important part of professional practice. Not only does it enhance an individual nurse's professional practice, it also enhances the profession.

REFERENCES

(1) Lay, M., Wahlstrom, B., Rude, C, Selfe, C., Selzer, J. (2000) Technical Communication (2nd Ed.). U.S.: Irwin McGraw Hill Higher Education.

(2) Smart, K., and Barnum, C. (2000) Communication in cross-functional teams. Technical Communication Online; 47: 1, 1-5. Retrieved Sept. 1, 2003 from ProQuest database.

(3) Quality Health New Zealand (2003) About Quality Health. Retrieved May 16, 2003, from http:// www.qualityhealth.org.nz/about/index.html.

(4) Schroyen B. (2003) Interview with Elizabeth Lee as part of a technical writing course. Unpublished.

--Bonnie Schroyen, RCpN, MA, is a senior lecturer in the Department of Nursing at Northland Polytechnic.