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Response Essay 3: Genre

Katie Cooleen
In Charles Bazermans Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems,

the idea of genre is

looked at and broken down with different characteristics. Bazerman refers to genre as
recognizable and self-reinforcing forms of communication (372). He uses a few of his own
examples such as a newspaper and a credit card application. These are both some kind of
document that has a format that is easily recognizable to the viewer.
In the nursing profession, a patients chart would be considered a type of genre set.
Bazerman defines a genre set as the collection of types of texts someone in a particular role is
likely to produce (374). Within this particular genre set, there are different genres. For example,
in a chart you would find an admission assessment, consent forms, nursing progress notes,
flowsheets with vital signs, lab values, test results, and other patient information. There are
different ways this genre set can be presented. For example, this genre set used to be all written
on paper, with all of the papers tucked into a binder or some type of file. Some hospitals and
clinics today still do this. However, it is becoming much more common to have a patient chart on
the computer. This is a much more accessible way for many people to view important
information. Even though these two different forms of a patient chart physically look much
different, the chart is still very recognizable to nurses in either form, based on the information it
contains.
One type of genre that is seen in this genre set is the nursing note. This is a document that
a nurse creates once a shift to give an update on the patients status. Depending on the hospital,
the specific criteria for a nursing note may vary. However, any nurse in any hospital would be

able to recognize a nursing note from anywhere else. A nursing note is attempting to
accomplish a certain type of interaction (377). This interaction is mainly between nurses taking
care of the same patient, however, other professions such as doctors or physical therapists may
look at the nursing note to get an idea of how the patient is currently doing that day. The main
point of the note is to summarize all of the key events that occurred to the patient during the
nurses shift.
In the inpatient setting, all nursing notes include some aspects of the patients physical
assessment that is performed each shift. Many times, only aspects of the assessment that were
problematic are included. For instance, if someone had poor lung sounds, the nurse would
include that in the note, and what exactly the problem was, such as crackles or diminished lung
sounds. Another thing that might be included is past medical history, or why the patient is
currently in the hospital. This is essentially their diagnosis and any other important information
relating to this. Another thing that would be included would be any abnormal lab values or test
results. One last thing that is also usually included is the patients plan of care. This is basically
the plan for the near future. This includes what the patients goals are and plan for treatment.
Most genres have easy to notice features that signal you about the kind of text it is (378),
which applies to all of the things that were just listed. The breakdown of all this information
would make this genre apparent to any nurse that were to look at it, and it would be very simple
to recognize.
In the article, Bazerman said typical documents may vary in significant respects from
one company to another (379). This can be true of the nursing note to some extent. Many
nursing notes may be formatted differently depending on the hospital or organization, therefore

they would visually look unsimilar. However, they are similar regardless of appearance based on
their content. Another aspect of the nursing note that makes them recognizable is the language
used. Often, certain abbreviations and vocabulary are used that are often unique to the nursing
profession. For example, in a note there might be something that says VSS or A+Ox3. These
things mean vital signs stable and alert and oriented times three respectively. This is another
aspect of the note that puts it into its own category.
There also may be the same genre in different areas or fields (380), which applies to
the nursing note. Nurses are not the only ones who write notes on their patients. Doctors,
physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, dieticians, and so on all write notes
on patients. They may even look like they are formatted in a similar manner if someone were to
just quickly glance. However, the biggest aspect that sets all of these different kinds of notes
apart is the content. All of these different professions are assessing different things for the same
patient. Therefore, the nursing note will look much different from the dieticians note because the
main point of focus is much different for each group.
Reading this article made me realize just how many genres there are out in the world. Just
in the nursing profession alone there are dozens of different genres. After reading this article, I
will be more aware of different genres that take place in every aspect of my life, whether it be at
school, home, or work. This article also made me think if there was any kind of written text that
would not be considered a genre. I think it would be possible to make an argument for any
written text that it could be some kind of genre. Overall, I enjoyed thinking about genre in terms
of the nursing profession.

This is one example of a nursing note:

http://what-when-how.com/nursing/examples-of-documentation-forms-and-formats-nursing/

References
Bazerman, Charles. Speech Acts, Genres, and Activity Systems: How Texts Organize Activity
and People. What Writing Does and How It Does It: An Introduction to Analyzing Texts
and Textual Practices. (2004). p. 365-391. Print.