If a project takes time, consider a byline
October 1, 1999 4 minutes read
If a project takes time, consider a byline
Efforts in patient education rewarded by publishing
Can’t find that important information on patient education? Maybe it hasn’t been written yet — and you might be the best author for it. That’s the opinion held by Margaret M. Duffy, EdD, RN, CNN, clinical educator and adjunct associate professor at the College of Nursing, Medical Uni vers ity of South Carolina in Charleston.
"If I can’t find something when I do a literature search, then I figure there are other people looking for the same information," says Duffy. Searches that come up empty-handed point to opportunities for articles in that particular area.
Duffy came to patient education when her position as case manager was eliminated. When she had trouble finding the specifics she needed when trying to meet the patient education needs at her institution, she wrote about what she did when handed the job. The article, "Designing a Hospital-wide Patient Education Program," was published in the July 1999 issue of Advances in Renal Replacement Therapy. Now, she frequently writes or collaborates on articles on patient education projects at the Medical University of South Carolina. (For information on submitting articles to journals mentioned in this piece as well as to other publications, see article, p. 113.)
When lots of time and energy go into a project, you want to get the most out of it, and publishing is one way of doing that, says Magdalyn Patyk, MS, RN, coordinator of nursing development at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago. When Patyk spent a year with a doctoral student examining the effectiveness of computerized touch-screen education for brain injury patients, she co-wrote an article for Rehabilitation Nursing, a journal published by the Glenview, IL-based Association of Rehabili tation Nursing.
Be familiar with the literature before writing
There are many benefits to publishing, both for you as a professional and for your organization, says Jackie A. Smith, PhD, patient education coordinator at the University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics in Salt Lake City. You create better projects from the start when you expect to publish articles about them later. Publishing keeps you in touch with current literature and helps you become involved in your profession. It also can bring favorable publicity to your program and organization, she explains.
Yet just as a good article brings favorable publicity, a poor one could cause problems internally, warns Smith. That’s why it is important to be familiar with the current literature on a topic before writing an article. "Don’t shoot yourself in the foot by making statements like, This project has not been done before,’ or no one has reported this type of study before,’ when in fact you have not done your homework," she advises. "Not looking at what others have done will severely affect your credibility."
The best projects to write about are those that are important for others to learn about and are significant improvements to the field, says Smith. Also, they should be well-thought-out and statistically sound.
No matter how sound the topic, an editor won’t agree to look at an article if the subject is not of interest to the publication’s readers. Read the journal so you understand who the audience is, and then read the writer’s guidelines if they are available, advises Patyk.
Be familiar with the topics the journal addresses, the style and length of articles, and the types of charts and graphics the publication uses, says Fran London, MS, RN, a health education specialist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. London is the author of several journal articles and a book titled No Time to Teach? A Nurse’s Guide To Patient and Family Education, published by Hagerstown, MD-based Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. "You have a greater chance of acceptance if the editor can immediately see how your piece fits into the journal," says London.
The best way to approach an editor is with a query letter that explains what the article is about and why it is appropriate for that particular journal, says Patyk. She usually faxes or e-mails the query to the editor.
On the other hand, Duffy writes the entire article and submits it to the editor. "I basically look to see if the journal handles that kind of article, and then send it to the editor with a letter asking if it is something he or she can use," she explains. (To learn more about the writing process, see article on p. 113.)
To find an appropriate journal, go to the library and look for journals that publish articles similar to yours, advises Smith. If you are stumped, ask other professionals in the patient education field.
At Northwestern Memorial Hospital, it is the expectation that everyone in nursing development will publish, says Patyk. With this mindset, most staff are keenly aware of journal content and slant and will suggest publications where colleagues might publish on a particular project.
For example, Patyk’s supervisor informed her of a journal that was looking for articles on project management. That gave Patyk the opportunity to publish a piece about a strategic planning project for patient education on which she had worked.
While publishing takes time and effort, it is very rewarding, says Smith. "Patient educators will greatly increase their professional level through publishing and the field will grow dramatically," she says.
You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content