Reflection on writing projects and nursing career development

.....technical writing was valuable because it highlighted a few different aspects of writing that are valuable on the job. First, the course highlighted the need for structure in writing. Using headings to organize thoughts makes the writing easier to read, and the audience more likely to follow the progression of thoughts. Adding diagrams or infographics can help further illustrate the concepts, especially the progression of tasks that might be required. One of the key elements of technical writing is to describe a process, and that means taking someone through a series of steps to a conclusion.

Thoroughness is the second important element that I got out of this course. The key to technical writing is not to skip steps. It is important to illustrate each step, not taking for granted that the reader understands the process. Thus, when writing out explanations for how to do something, all elements are included. Taking the time to communicate thoroughly is equivalent to taking the time to communicate effectively.

Ultimately, the course was valuable for teaching me about the fundamentals of effective communication: knowing your audience, taking the time to explain things properly, but also cutting out superfluous information. Technical writing emphasizes clarity and directness as a means of conveying the point, and that is something that I took home from the course as critical elements in my own writing.

I don't know if my idea of technical writing changed that much in five weeks. I thought it sounded pretty dull, and it still is, but there is a clear purpose to it, and so you need to know it as a skill in order to make your own communication better. If there is a takeaway from the course, that has to be it; that technical writing is not that much different from any other communication in terms of its basic elements. Respect those elements, ensure that they are there, and the writing will be effective.

To me, most of the elements of this course are going to be useful in my job. Being able to communicate effectively in writing is a valuable skill as a nurse. It takes any forms -- writing how to documents, describing things on a patient chart, writing reports, writing emails or any other aspect of the job. What I appreciate most is that the fundamentals of communication apply everywhere, not just to writing. So when you learn about technical writing, you are also learning things like how to train a new hire, or explain verbally to a patient about how to perform a task. The exact same elements of communication apply. So in this way, when you learn technical writing you learn a skill that can be applied not just directly to your work, but indirectly as well. There are skills that I learned in this course that I will be able to apply every day.

Looking back on the assignments, I feel that my writing has improved. I see that there is more structure. I always felt that I had some skill at communicating ideas, but I have gained some confidence from the structure that technical writing has given me, where I know that I can convey even highly-complex concepts by breaking the ideas down into their constituent parts. That's pretty huge for me, to have it reinforced that I have the ability to communicate effectively, and better than I could before because some of the rough edges in my communication have been smoothed out in the course of this training.

There are definitely connections between this course and my career goals, or in general to an RN or BSN program. It is one thing to have knowledge, another entirely to be able to communicate that knowledge. Gaining this knowledge of writing really will help improve grades, but will also improve my ability to, at any time, communicate my ideas effectively. That should gain me more notice, improve my reputation, allow me more confidence in expressing ideas and opinions and just flat out express myself better at all times. There is a lot of benefit to this course in terms of my own career, of that I have little doubt.