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Luke Bingham
Professor Marie Webb
English 100
4 December, 2018

Genres of writing in the nursing field

Communication is an essential key to success in any workplace. In the profession of

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

information on to their next provider (Wood).

Patient care is a priority in the workplace of nursing. In addition to charting, another

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

for students to be skilled in multiple styles of writing?” Bingham replied,

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.”

Journal of Nursing Education, vol. 49, no. 8, Aug. 2010, p. 437-443.

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.

Accessed 25 Nov. 2018.

Brown, Danielle. “Charting and Documentation Guide for Nursing Students.” Gap Medics, 14

Nov. 2014, https://www.gapmedics.com/blog/2014/11/21/charting-and-documentation-

guide-for-nursing-students/. Accessed 23 Nov. 2018.

Registerednursern “What is F-DAR Charting? FDAR Charting Examples.” Registered nurse RN,

NO publication date, http://www.registerednursern.com/what-is-f-dar-charting-fdar-

charting-examples/. Accessed 23 Nov. 2018.

Wood, Christopher. “The Importance of Good Record-Keeping for Nurses.” Nursing Times, 14

May. 2015, https://www.nursingtimes.net/roles/practice-nurses/the-importance-of-good-

record-keeping-for-nurses/205784.article#. Accessed 04 Dec. 2018.

Papandrea, Dawn. “Nursing Care Plans: What You Need to Know.” Nurse.org, 8 Jan. 2018,

https://nurse.org/articles/what-are-nursing-care-plans/. Accessed 23 Nov. 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

&Issue_ID=843475. Accessed 23 Nov. 2018

Bingham, Joe. Interview. By Luke Bingham. 20 Nov. 2018.