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