Writing in Nursing

Writing as a Student

Ely, C., Nicol, M., & Scott, I. (2007). Essential study skills for nursing. Mosby/Elsevier.

Garrard, J. (2017). Health sciences literature review made easy: The matrix method (5th ed.). Sudbury, MA: Jones and Bartlett.

Gimenez, J. (2011). Writing for nursing and midwifery students. Palgrave Macmillan.

Lang, T. (2010). How to write, publish, and present in the health sciences: A guide for clinicians and laboratory researchers. Philadelphia, PA: American College of Physicians.

Scullion, P., & Guest, D. (2007). Study skills for nursing and midwifery students. Open University Press.

Roush, K. (2015). A nurse's step-by-step guide to writing your dissertation or capstone. Indianapolis: Sigma Theta Tau International.

Taylor, D.B. (2014). Writing skills in nursing and health care: A guide to completing successful theses and dissertations. London: Sage.

Whitehead, E., & Mason, T. (2008). Study skills for nurses (2nd ed.) London: Sage.

Witte, F. (2003). Basic grammar and usage for medical communicators. Rockville, MD: American Medical Writers Association.

Writing in Nursing: Resources to help nursing students with writing from Purdue OWL.

Literature Searching for Nursing Students: A bibliography of articles on researching and writing literature reviews in nursing, compiled by the Nursing and Allied Health Resource Section of the Medical Library Association.

Writing for Publication

Nurse Author & Editor: A free online journal with articles on writing manuscripts, editing, publishing, and avoiding rejection. Volume 19.2 (March 2009), for example, contains articles on converting a poster into a paper and on writing a PhD proposal. This page lists all of the articles written for authors (as opposed to publishers or editors). See also their free e-book, listed below. Note: You will need to register with the website to view articles.

Webb, C. (2008). Writing for publication. Wiley-Blackwell. A free e-book posted on Nurse Author & Editor’s website that covers writing for publication; writing review articles, clinical articles, and research papers; presenting tables and figures; publishing a thesis; writing style; finishing touches such as the abstract; impact factor; and copyright.

Fondiller, S. (1999). The writer’s workbook: Health professionals’ guide to getting published (2nd ed.). New York: Jones & Bartlett.

Oermann, M. H. (2016). Writing for publication in nursing (3rd ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott Press.

Saver, C. (2017). Anatomy of writing for publication for nurses (3rd ed.). Indianapolis, IN: Sigma Theta Tau International.

Writing on the Job

Turnbul, A. (2001). Plain words for nurses: Writing and communicating effectively. London: The Foundation of Nursing Studies.

Writing to Get a Job

Nursing Samples and Resources: Examples of resumes, cover letters, thank-you letters and interview questions, by and for nurses at the University of California, San Francisco.

Resources for International Students

Allum, V., & McGarr, P. (2008). Cambridge English for nursing: Intermediate. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Bosher, S. D. (2008). English for nursing, academic skills (2nd ed.). Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. (for advanced English learners)

Graf, J. (2008). Handbook of biomedical research writing. Hanyang University Online Writing Lab. Written for Korean scientists in the biomedical sciences, this handbook covers writing journal article and clinical case reports.

McCullagh, M., & Wright, R. (2008). Good practice: Communication skills in English for the medical practitioner. Cambridge: CUP.

Ribes, R., & Ros, P. R. (2006). Medical English. Springer: New York.

Quann, S., & Satin, D. (2007). Project care: Health care case studies, multimedia, and projects for practicing English. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press.

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