Scholarly writing is a crucial component in the advancement of scholarship in the nursing profession. The grading process for scholarly papers can be one of the most time consuming roles of nursing instruction, creating a wide range of frustrations and rewards. In assigning scholarly papers, students are asked to juggle multiple domains of learning at various levels of thinking: research skills, interpretation and understanding of facts and knowledge, analysis and synthesis, writing competence, creativity, acknowledgement of sources, and correct application of a style guide such as APA format. The role of grader demands an instructor then places a value on the students’ implementation of these multifaceted skills in the form of a percentage and/or letter grade, and provide narrative feedback to promote further development of the student’s writing skills. Receiving this feedback can be an emotional experience for the student.

This presentation was shared among Nursing educators from all over Western Canada at the WNRCASN conference, held at the Fort Garry Hotel, Winnipeg MB on Feb 19-21st, 2014. It was hosted by Red River College, Nursing Department.

The demonstration utilized examples from student work to illustrate the quickest method of evaluating student writing and providing meaningful, concise feedback.

A Presentation from WNRCASN

By Kim Mitchell RN MN

Nursing Instructor