What Is A Nurse Writer?

What image comes to mind when you think of a nurse?

The all female, white skirts and hats, cowering at male doctors who scream obscenities at them? Or do you imagine a group of trained males and females performing CPR in the emergency department? What about the nurse who holds your hand while you deliver your baby?

What about when you hear “nurse writer?”

Nursing has expanded into a multi-faceted profession, with endless opportunities in just about every sector of business. And if you don’t think healthcare is a business, I’m sorry to inform you that it unfortunately is. Nevertheless, nurses skillfully permeate and morf their education to fit into every niche. It’s no surprise that nurse writing has become a fast growing profession for experienced (and novice!) nurses. 

Writing Experience 

Nurses have extensive background in writing, believe it or not. In healthcare, it’s referred to as documentation. As all nurses have drilled into their heads during nursing school, “if it’s not written down, it didn’t happen.” Documentation is a skill that gets better with practice; pulling out the most important pieces of information and getting rid of the fluff. 

Patient Teaching

Nurses also have expertise in patient teaching. This is the process of taking a medical explanation for how or why to do something, and putting it into terms that the laymen can understand. Nurses do this daily, in just about every form of career they choose. 

This is why some nurses turn to writing. It’s in our skillset to write clear, concise, and informative information. 

Nurse writers can utilize their knowledge of the healthcare system to formulate educational yet clear and authoritative content. 

Odd Schedules

Nurses are used to working odd hours. Night shift, weekends, holidays, 12-hour shifts…we’ve done it all. Freelance nurse writing is very similar in that it’s typically not a 9-5 type of career. Nurse writers can thrive on working on their own time, whenever it’s convenient for them. This allows the nurse writer to have time for themselves, focusing on a healthy work/life balance.

Often you will hear taglines calling for ‘nurse burnout.’ This is rare with nurse writing, because it’s self limiting. Working as a nurse writer is engaging, positive, and invigorating for the creative soul.

Become A Nurse Writer

If you are a nurse looking for a new challenge using your healthcare knowledge, consider writing. There are plenty of resources on the web from nurses who teach writing skills to nurses such as RN 2 Writer and The Savvy Nurse Writer. And if you are considering hiring a nurse writer for your next project, check out my blog post on the benefits of using nurse writers..

-Amanda Lundberg, BSN, RN