Professional Experience Placement

Hugh Kearns conducted a workshop at UTAS recently on how to turbocharge your writing. Maria gardener and Hugh have written a book with the same name which You can find it at  ithinkwell.com. au. It is an written in an easy to read style, that you can pick up and browse in bites. The tenet of the book is to assist people to become writers. The tips and ideas apply to any type of writing, but it is mainly pitched for academics or professions that require writing outputs. In the workshop Hugh introduced the audience to some audit tools to help identify how much is already written or left to write of any given project. These tools are available in the book he co-authored.

The workshop moved through the writing myths and how to get and keep writing. There were tips about getting into the zone to write, which the authors call “two golden hours” prodding writers into just writing rather than waiting for the right time, clarity, or room ambience. He also discussed the fears and anxiety around getting your work read and receiving feedback. One of the hints that I found useful was when asking for feedback, clarify what you want feedback on and how! Clarity around whether it is content or paragraph flow or editing is important to ensure the feedback is useful to the writer and provides direction for the person investing in giving feedback.

Even though the workshop was not directly related to clinical supervision. Many of the take home messages can be applied! The trajectory for students arriving in a new situation, becoming familiar, oriented or belonging. The learning that happens as they become comfortable with the routine and get to know the staff and patients. Students start to become familiar with the specific nursing skills required in that area of nursing. It becomes easier to understand. They have been practising! They receive feedback on progress. Both the supervisors and students need to negotiate the timing and type of feedback. Sometimes the path is not smooth, as students may be stuck in the myths of clinical practice, that hinders their progress. They may be unable to progress for a range of reasons and due to circumstances, they may oscillate, unsure where to go to move forward in their learning. It is part of the clinical supervisor role to identify these students early and assist them to progress. There are a number of resources available for clinical supervisors to assist with this process that can be found here.

Then they may be able with support and guidance to ‘quick start’ and be ready to practice again.  Students can be guided to build on what they have already accomplished and be orientated to the next thing, rather than keep going over old versions without the addition any new ideas/skills.

The workshop was engaging and about more than just writing. If you do want to turbocharge your writing though, it is a useful book.

If you have any comments or suggestions about how to write or give feedback, you are welcome to post them here. Join us at @PEPCommunity.