2
2
Week 1: Assignment – Concept Worksheet: Professional Writing in Nursing
Winnie Nyamapfumba
Nightingale College
English 311-Professional and Academic Writing
Professor Melodie Rodgers
January 11, 2026
Week 1: Assignment – Concept Worksheet: Professional Writing in Nursing
According to Dr. Nancyruth Leibold in her article, “Writing in Nursing,” she emphasizes the significance of various writing styles in nursing and puts more emphasis on Patient or Nursing Care Plans. This style is essential in the daily nursing practice and is designed to educate the public effectively. Patient care plans are a professional type of nursing documentation that directs personalized, patient-centered care. A care plan systematically outlines the patient’s recognized health issues, nursing diagnoses, measurable goals, planned interventions, and anticipated outcomes. This form of writing relies on comprehensive assessment data and clinical judgment, enabling nurses to arrange care in an organized and evidence-based way. Importantly, patient care plans are dynamic documents that are continually updated as the patient’s condition or treatment responses evolve. They serve as a guide for nursing care delivery and are regarded as one of the most significant forms of writing in nursing practice. They are mainly utilized daily in clinical settings such as hospitals, clinics, assisted living and long-term facilities and mental health facilities.
Their main function is to convert patient assessment results into clear and actionable nursing interventions that enhance safety, recovery, and overall quality outcomes. Care plans also facilitate continuity of care by ensuring that the healthcare team understands the patient’s priorities and treatment goals. Primarily the audience targeted for these plans typically includes bedside nurses, nurse managers, physicians, specialists and interdisciplinary team members. Besides guiding care delivery, well-constructed care plans fulfill legal requirements and support efforts for quality improvement by accurately documenting clinical reasoning and nursing actions (Leibold, 2015).
An excellent example of effective patient care plan writing can be accessed at
https://www.nursingdiagnosis.org/nursing-care-plans/, which offers structured samples utilizing standardized nursing diagnoses. This resource aims to illustrate how nursing diagnoses correlate with specific goals, evidence-based interventions, and outcome evaluations. The examples effectively highlight the difficulties faced by patients, emphasizing their care requirements while outlining concise nursing interventions that enhance sound clinical decision-making. The writing style is characterized by formality, directness, and specificity. It eliminates unnecessary language, emphasizing clarity and precision. This writing style is especially effective because of its concise yet comprehensive nature, making it ideal for dynamic clinical settings while also encouraging critical thinking and enhancing patient safety (Leibold, 2015).
References
Leibold, N. (2015). Writing in Nursing | English 251 Open Textbook | Southwest Minnesota State University. Otb.smsu.edu.
