Writing Across the Curriculum: Strategies to Improve the Writing Skills of Nursing Students

Abstract

Background: Writing across the curriculum (WAC) is a strategy in which writing instruction occurs in classes outside of composition, literature, and other English courses. This literature review was conducted to identify and synthesize the peer-reviewed literature about WAC in nursing education.

Methods: The team performed searches of MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL Plus With Full Text, and ERIC for articles published between January 2003 and April 2014. A combination of Medical Subject Heading terms (or equivalent) and keywords were used to create the database search strategies.

Results: There were 48 articles that discussed WAC. Most of the papers described writing courses in nursing programs, strategies to teach writing to nursing students, and writing activities or assignments within nursing courses. High-level evidence examining the impact of writing strategies and exercises in courses and occurring across the curriculum was lacking. Only 18 (37.5%) of these papers were evaluative; most of the databased articles were either author observations or perceptions of changes in students' writing ability, or low-level research studies.

Conclusions: Strategies, assignments, and courses intended to promote writing skills of nursing students were documented in this literature review; however, further evaluation is needed to determine which are most effective. Hawks Turner Derouin Hueckel Leonardelli Oermann.

Keywords: Nursing education; professional issue; writing across the curriculum.