The practice and teaching of nurse management writing has received little
attention in professional communication journals. This study is based on sec
ondary research, examination of documents written by nurse managers, and
interviews with 54 nurse managers and 13 nurse educators. It indicates that
writing a variety of business communications is a crucial career task jor nurse
managers, directly affecting their professional power. However, most nurse
managers interviewed believed their undergraduate education had not pre
pared them adequately for their workplace writing and perceived a need for
professional writing instruction in four-year nursing programs.
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