Writing anessay or research paper in school usuallycomes under one of those “you love it or hate it” categories.
Many nursing students hate writing papers in nursing school, while others may find it enjoyable (or even preferred) comparedto other activities such as group projects.
But will you have to write a lot of papers innursing school? If so, how many papers will you have to write? These are all great questions for anyone interested in possibly enrolling in a nursing school program.
Writing Papers In Nursing School
Generally speaking, yes, you will most likely have to write a few papers before graduating nursing school. The good news is that you probably won’t have to write A LOT of papers. But it is almost guaranteed thatyou will have to write SOME papers.
How many papers you write will often depend on how long you attend (example: 4 year degreevs. 2 year degree), the specific curriculum your nursing school uses, as well as the individual teacher’s course requirements or preferences.
All of thesevariables can reallymake the number of papersyou write hard to determine with any precision.
How Many Papers Will Your Write with a 4 Year BSN Degree?
Most 4 year BSN programs are divided into2 parts: General education and Nursing Education. The general educational classes will besubjects such as Philosophy, English, Math, etc. The nursing program will be classes specifically geared towards nursing (such as Microbiology).
In mygeneral education college program, I hadto take 2 standard English classes (CriticalReading and Writing, and Argumentation and Debate). These required papers throughout the entiresemester.I alsohad to take a literature class, whichdid require a bit of writing. I also had to write the occasionalpaper forclasses such as sociology, and acouple of other general classes, but these were relatively rare.
Once I was into the actual nursing program, the number of papers I had to write diminishedquite a bit. I do recall writing a handful of papers though. One paper was for a nursing community class. There were also a few group projects where we were required to writea paper together, or a presentation.
Writing Papers in an ADN (2 Year) Degree Program
Since most ADN programs go straight into the nursingclasses, I would imagine thatyou won’t have as many papers to write.
You will still probably have the occasional group project or be required to write up your opinion or do a research paper or essay on something in the healthcare profession. Butthese will not be the norm forthe bulk of yourclasses, and it isn’t that bad to write the occasional paper.
The good news about writing papers in nursing school is this: Since most teachers specialized in science or health, they won’t be “experts” on the English language. In my own experience, teachers in the nursing program were much more laid-back, and didn’t grade the papers as stringently as you might expecta teacher from the English department would.
This is good news for those of you who struggle with writing (or for those students who may not speak English astheir first language).
Writing Papers in a Master’s Program
I also have a friend goingback to school to get herMaster’s Degree in Nursing Education. She just started this fall, andrecently commented about the number ofpapersshe will have to write this semester.In addition, most Master Degree programs do require a verylengthy“thesis” or “research paper”at the end of the program to qualify for graduation. Therefore, you should keep in mind if you ever plan on pursuing a Master’s degree inNursing, you will be writing a lot more papers.
Thinking about going to Nursing School?
Are you contemplating going to nursing school, or are you actually in nursing school right now? Nursing school can be challenging, especially if you do not know what to expect. Here is a great guide by S. L. Page BSN, RN called “How to Pass Nursing School“. This book gives you detailed information about how to pass nursing school from beginning to end. S.L. Page, the creator of this website, complied all the information students what to know about nursing school into one easy to read guide. She gives in depth information on how to succeed in nursing school.
S.L. Page graduated from nursing school with honors and passed the NCLEX-RN on her first try. In this ebook, she reveals the strategies she used to help her succeed.
Here is what the book looks like:
