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Maria Delacruz
Title
When writing, authors always refer to the situation at hand as inspiration for their piece.
Throughout this analysis the two texts that will be discussed were both written based on very dif-
ferent situations. The first text refers to my experience while volunteering at a hospital while the
second text explains in detail how nurses are taught to write throughout their education. Both
texts offer the different insight and explain in detail what prompted the authors to write about
those certain situations.
At the end of my senior year one of the assignments was to write a descriptive paper to
inform my teacher and other students in my class about my experience during the time I volun-
teered at the hospital. This report held many purposes. The paper explains in detail what my dai-
ly activities included and what I learned throughout my volunteer time at Sutter Roseville Med-
ical Center. It also guides future students by giving them insight of what active volunteering is
really about in a very busy and critical environment in a professional setting. Future regional oc-
cupational program candidates can use this paper as a reference of what they should expect and
what is required of them throughout the course of the program throughout the year. It may help
ease some of the worries they may as they enter this program and hands on learning experience
in the hospital setting as they learn to work caring for very health challenged men and women.
My first and biggest challenge working in the medical field was having to learn and being com-
pliant with the bylaws of HIPPA which stands for Health Insurance Portability and Accountabili-
ty Act. This challenge stood out throughout my paper for the reason being that it restricted me
from sharing in detailed information about the patients that I cared for due to this regulation. An-
other challenge that restricted my writing was the medical terminology used in the medical
world. When talking to hospital personnel it is critical to use the proper terminology in order to
ensure proper care and proper documentation of the patients condition. While writing, not
everyone in the audience understands medical terminology, so I had to explain terminology as I
used it to make sure the audience knew what I was talking about. The text was meant for not
only my teacher and my classmates, but to future students and parents as well. I wanted my
teacher to see what I got out of my experience and how much I learned throughout the course of
the program. I wanted the students to see this paper as advice as well as information that they
would be able to use when deciding whether they wanted to take the course or not. The parents
are often worried that their children might see something gruesome, but I hoped they would un-
derstand that seeing things like that only enhances their children learning experience and in-
trigues them more. Not only did writing this paper teach me how much I knew about the pro-
gram, but it also taught me that I can explain my experiences to others. I also tried to learn how
to write in a way which would not only pertain to a classroom setting, but to a professional set-
ting as well.
Writing as a nursing major holds many expectations that one must follow. The different
types of nursing degrees also have different expectations that they must meet. Being an as-
sociates degree nurse requires the nurse to write clearly and get to the point in a small amount of
space and consists mainly of charting patient information. They have to make sure that they doc-
ument everything correctly to avoid problems from arising later on due to mistakes. As a bache-
lor degree nurse, it is required that they participate in nursing research along with documenting
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patient information. The nurses that hold higher level positions are required to participate in
many more writing activities that benefit the organization they work for in some way. Charting
or documentation is a vital task in which nurses participate in as they use these records to decide
how they should proceed with their patients care. There are also different types of charting that
nurses have to perform. Not only does this task help patients, but all the different types of chart-
ing serve to protect hospitals form legal issues as everything that is done for and to a patient has
a record. This is why it is so important for nurses to be clear in their writing. Being clear but
thorough in their charting, evaluations, and even their research is the most important thing that
any nurse must do. Following the correct style while writing assures the nurse that what they are
trying to say its being interpreted the right way and the reader understand exactly what is being
said. While writing nurses generally do not write in a personal style, but instead maintain a pro-
fessional tone as they are taught to write using medical terminology. When writing papers, nurses
are also required to write in APA format instead of MLA. Other medical personnel such as nurses
and doctors will be reading the nurses work, so by maintaining their professional tone, they will
understand what is being said.
At the beginning of this paper, the text that was mentioned was not written by a nurse. It
was instead written by a student who one day aspires to be a nurse. The first text was not good
enough to turn into a nursing professor for many reasons. The first and foremost reason being
that the text was not written in a professional and informal tone. It was a very personal piece that
help many grammar errors. It was also not written in APA format, which is required in nursing.
While it did uphold parts of the styles that nurses use and it could pertain to a medical audience,
the informality of the paper withholds it from reaching its full potential. In order to being to write
as a nursing major it is important to start adapting to what is required throughout that depart-
ment. Maintaining a professional tone while being articulate throughout ones writing will allow
the author to grow and learn to write as a nurse.