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Luke Bingham
Professor Marie Webb
English 100
4 December, 2018
nursing it is important that the registered nurse has a platform of communication that will allow
him/her to communicate with others effectively. Through primary and secondary source research
it is conclusive that the registered nurse demonstrates the highest level of communication by
utilizing different genres of writing. The use of different genres of writing allows the registered
nurse to adequately communicate with other nurses, doctors, patients, and the families of the
patient.
The registered nurse needs to be able to effectively communicate with members of the
patients care team which includes other nurses and the doctors on site in order to provide the
most effective care and patient recovery. A genre of writing that nurses will practice on a daily
basis is called charting. The medical chart provides a record of everything that was done
regarding the patient’s medical care. It includes information on medications, procedures, results
of diagnostic tests and all interactions with doctors and other healthcare professionals. Past
surgeries, medical conditions and hospitalization are also documented. Information in the chart
helps other medical workers understand what is going on with the patient (Brown). When
charting, the nurse focuses on what they observe and not what the patient is telling them. One of
the most common charting methods that nurses use is the FDAR charting method. FDAR stands
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for Focus (F), Data (D), Action (A), and Response (R). This method of charting is used to focus
on a specific patient problem, concern, or event. It is geared to save time and decrease duplicate
charting. It is a great charting method for nurses who have a lot of patients and is easier read by
other professionals. It gives other professionals a snapshot of what went on during your shift in a
concise manner. An example of nurses using charting would be when you visit the hospital and
the nurse asks you a series of questions and you notice them writing down information about
each questions asked. Most health care settings are requiring nurses to now document in the
FDAR method (Registerednursern). In summary, whatever the nurse writes down while charting
is what “officially” happened during the patient’s visit, so it is important that the nurse is able to
write down the information that they think is important to the care of the patient and pass this
genre that nurses practice in their place of work is called a nursing care plan (NCP). A nursing
care plan contains all of the relevant information about a patient’s diagnoses, the goals of
treatment, the specific nursing orders (including what observations are needed and what actions
must be performed), and a plan for evaluation. The patient care plan allows for a smooth
turnover of the patient to different healthcare professionals. The care plan shows which nurse
and other healthcare professional has taken care of the patient and what was conducted during
the patients visit. Having a consistent care plan is what will ensure that everyone is on the same
page. Over the course of the patient’s stay, the plan is updated with any changes and new
information as it presents itself. After a nurse performs a patient assessment and the diagnosis is
made, the next step is to map out goals for the patient for both the short- and long-term. For
example, if a patient is diagnosed with acute pain from hypertension, the desired outcome might
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be that the patient begins a new prescription in order to help in pain management (Papandrea).
The importance of this genre of writing in the field of nursing is that it allows the nurse to relay
information to other nurses that will give care to the patient. It is important that the nurse
logically constructs a care plan for his/her patient in order to provide the best patient care and
recovery as possible.
In addition to the genres of writing that allow the nurse to continue care and address the
patients status, another genre of writing that is common in the workplace of nursing is the
incident report. Anytime that an incident occurs at a facility, the nurse must fill out an incident
report. An incident report is a formal report written by practitioners, nurses, or other staff
members. The purpose of this report is to inform facility administrators of incidents that allow
the risk management team to consider changes that might prevent similar incidents. Another
purpose of this report is to alert administration and the facility insurance company of potential
claims or need for further investigation. An incident is best defined as any event that affects
patient or employee safety. An example of when an incident report would be used is if a patient
was overmedicated and they fell down while trying to stand up to use the restroom. In the
incident report the nurse would include the following information: the exact time and date, the
names of persons involved and any witnesses, factual information about what happened, other
relevant facts, including the actions of the nurse (such as notifying the healthcare provider) and
any corrective actions taken. In most healthcare facilities, injuries, patient complaints,
medication errors, equipment failure, adverse reactions to drugs or treatments, or errors in patient
care must be reported. Data from incident reports are tracked for quality assurance and to allow
the detection of emerging trends or problems (Hynes). Incident reports allow problems and
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mistakes to be giving attention and allow the members of the hospital to be aware of what has
happened and allows administrators to change any work place practices if needed.
In order to get a first-hand account of these different genres of writing used in the nursing
field, I interview a professional in the field of nursing. Joe Bingham (RET) has been a part of the
practice for over twenty years. Bingham, a retired member of the U.S. Army has served multiple
combat deployments while working with the emergency room medical team and also the
operating room medical team during the times of war. The expansive knowledge and
professional experience that Bingham has obtained throughout his practice has allowed him to
save a countless number of lives in the areas of combat and also provide treatment to patients in
the United States. I was able to sit down and talk with Mr. Bingham about the time that he has
spent in the field of nursing and target my questions towards the use of different genres in the
workplace of nursing.
When asked about the type of writing that he used most often in the job field, Bingham
replied “The first thing that a nurse will do is a patient assessment. You need to know what
happened to the patient and also what symptoms they are experiencing. If the patient arrived in
an ambulance the medical professionals that were previously with the patient will conduct a
“patient hand off” which includes relaying any important information of the patient like injuries
sustained, vitals, blood loss, conciseness, treatment rendered, and any medicine administered”.
Mr. Bingham explained that medical professionals all have a common way of reporting and
passing information to other professionals in the workplace, and that EACH workplace has a
different standard. For Bingham, utilizing different genres of writing was done through a series
of different reports and checklists that remained the baseline for patient care in his specific
workplace. The charting method is the most relatable genre of writing that Bingham experienced.
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A written assessment of the patient, notes of what was conducted during the patients visit,
followed by an online entry of all of the information that was previously written. In addition the
general question of what types of writing do you use in the workplace, I asked Mr. Bingham how
often different types of genres are used in your place of work. The reply from Bingham was:
There is not a day that a nurse will show up to work and not write something. As a
professional in the field of nursing you will chart for each patient, text, email, or call
others in the workplace in order to relay information. You will occasionally fill out
incident reports and also written reviews of the other professionals in the work place.
From this answer provided by Mr. Bingham, I was clearly able to see that there are numerous
genres of writing that are practiced in the nursing workplace. Bingham was very clear in the
different genres of writing and how frequent each genre was used.
In conclusion to the interview I asked Mr. Bingham one more question, “is it important
Absolutely, students and professionals need to continue their knowledge and skills in
writing in order to communicate and logically express their thoughts, questions, and
summary of patient reports. It doesn’t matter if you are a student or a doctor with 10
years of education, if you are not able to logically express what you need to say through
writing then you lack the essential skills this is required to communicate and work in the
field of nursing.
The strong and almost hostile reply from Mr. Bingham gives so much strength to the importance
of the use of different genres in the workplace of nursing. Through the primary and secondary
source research it is conclusive that there are multiple genres of writing that are essential to the
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contribution of a well communicated and smooth operating place of work. Not only are multiple
genres essential to smooth communication, the methods of writing are essential to the health and
the care of the patient. If a nurse forgets to write something down during a patients visit or
forgets to write a report of patient care, this mistake could lead to the death or serious injury of a
patient.
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Works cited
Reagan, Mary, Pietrobon, Ricado. “A Conceptual Framework for Scientific Writing in Nursing.”
http://web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=415cdfa4-3c29-4b04-8073-
0b78f78461a3%40pdc-v-
sessmgr02&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=rzh&AN=105068814.
Brown, Danielle. “Charting and Documentation Guide for Nursing Students.” Gap Medics, 14
Registerednursern “What is F-DAR Charting? FDAR Charting Examples.” Registered nurse RN,
Wood, Christopher. “The Importance of Good Record-Keeping for Nurses.” Nursing Times, 14
Papandrea, Dawn. “Nursing Care Plans: What You Need to Know.” Nurse.org, 8 Jan. 2018,
Hynes, JoElla. “Charting Checkup: Don't Be Intimidated by Incident Reports.” Nursing Center,
Apr. 2009,
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https://www.nursingcenter.com/journalarticle?Article_ID=843476&Journal_ID=522928