Introduction

James A. Inman
University of South Florida

Sandra L. Inman
Valdosta State University

This webtext explores what new knowledge about students' interactions with images of nursing in popular culture can mean for a strong emphasis on effective writing in nursing education. We present the results of a survey we conducted of a population of composition students at Furman University with the specific goal in mind to learn how entering college and university student writers perceive nursing as a profession and nurses as individuals. Our argument is that this sort of knowledge is critical; nursing educators already know how they represent nursing and nurses in their classes, but they do not know how student writers perceive nursing and nurses before beginning upper-division nursing curricula. Our webtext bridges this gap in knowledge and proposes "curricular interventions" that can make a difference for the teaching of effective writing in nursing education.

This webtext includes the following sections:

Writing in Nursing

Research Methodology

Research Results

Curricular Interventions

Conclusion

Works Cited

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