Registered nurses — if they have an associate at work degree, diploma or BSN — are healthcare experts, and they’re confident inside their ability to provide quality patient care. But there is one area where they may lack confidence: writing. ADN nurses that are considering going back to school to earn a BSN and have been away from school for a while might feel this angst a lot more than others. Some might even put off earning their bachelor’s degree due to the writing required. The citation format — American Psychological Association (APA) Style for healthcare writing — is enough to scare from the most experienced nurse. If you should be one of these brilliant nervous nurses worried about your writing skills, it is time to put those fears to rest!
Writing papers for nursing school doesn’t always have to be a task that is daunting. You most likely haven’t written a study paper since senior school, and citing your sources was never the part that is easiest. There are plenty tiny rules to follow: indentation, punctuation, order, etc. And APA Style is probably not used to you. Luckily you decide to come back to school at a time when citing your sources (regardless of the style) has grown to become as easy as a couple of clicks associated with the mouse.
Free Resources to assist you Cite Your Sources
There are many free resources to allow you to through the citation process. For quick reference, try the APA Style website. From the basics to the most in-depth information on “works cited,” the APA Style site has got the answers you need.
Microsoft Word comes with a function that will help cite your sources. Open your document and then click from the “REFERENCES” tab at the top of the page. Then click “Insert Citation” and then “Add New Source.”
You are able to insert the knowledge about the article — Author, Title, Year, City and Publisher — into the box that pops up.
You to insert it where you need it after you add the source information, Word allows. It saves it for later use. The best benefit is that it’s a free of charge function of software you already own.
Citation Machine is another free source for your Works Cited page. It will probably search titles you can enter the information manually for you and gather the information for your text, or. To create your Works Cited entry, follow these simple instructions.
- Click the “Create citations” button
- Click the style you would like into the “Choose a Citation Style” box — APA.
- Type in the title regarding the source you want to cite.
- Find the publication you’re using. (After https://www.custom-writings.net/ selecting your publication, Citation Machine will gather the info because of it. If the information can not be found, you are prompted to enter it yourself.)
- Click “Final Step.” This page will reveal the given information when it comes to text you’re using. This might be also where you are able to add information that Citation Machine could not find.
- Click “Create Citation” at the bottom associated with the screen.
- The properly formatted reference will appear on your screen. Copy, paste, done!
And these are merely a examples that are few. A simple Google search will turn up countless tools and other writing resources. Most schools — Lamar University, as an example — have writing centers which can help you free of charge, no matter whether you take your classes on campus or online.
Paid Resources for Writers
There are tools that are web-based will not only organize and format your references, but also guide you through the writing process. PERRLA Online, for example, will allow you to outline your papers, keep an eye on assignments, set reminders and much more. With this particular product, that you do not even need Microsoft Word. Type your paper into PERRLA Online and it’s going to convert your paper into a Word that is standard document can send to your instructor. “PERRLA is intuitive and simple to use, even if you’re not tech savvy,” says Jessica Skinner, an internet RN to BSN student. “It is a lifesaver!” It costs $39.95, that might be well worth it for online RN to BSN students who have anxiety about writing papers.
Looking at a blinking cursor on a blank page could be the part that is hardest of every writing assignment, nonetheless it doesn’t have to be. Just start writing. Remember, no body needs to ever see your first draft, so there’s absolutely nothing to be embarrassed about. And also you don’t have to concern yourself with your grade on the first draft either. When you get going, you’ll find that the others comes easy — or at the very least easier than you thought when you were staring at an empty page.
Don’t be afraid to inquire about your instructors for help. That’s what these are generally there for. Discuss topics along with your classmates. Nursing is a team effort, so there’s no reason at all that nursing school really should not be. Sharing ideas is not cheating.
The fear of writing and citing your sources correctly shouldn’t keep you from returning to school for a BSN. There are more resources that are writing your fingertips than previously. You may believe that you might never have to write in your nursing career, but that knows? You might decide to move into a leadership or research role where communication that is written be an important part of one’s job. You may even decide you like writing!
