Discussion: Scholarly Writing and Plagiarism

As a nurse embarking on an advanced degree, you are developing the characteristics of a scholar-practitioner, which includes strong communication skills. Writing in a scholarly manner involves supporting your thoughts with evidence from the literature and appropriately using APA formatting.

One of the challenges of scholarly writing is paraphrasing the thoughts of others in your work. Paraphrasing, and correctly citing the original author for his or her ideas, allows you to take the ideas of others, summarize them, and incorporate them into your own writing. 

When summarizing the ideas of others, it is important to avoid plagiarizing (copying the words and ideas of others as though they were your own). In addition to expanding your knowledge of APA, this week’s Learning Resources help you to distinguish between paraphrasing and plagiarizing.

                                             To prepare:

Think about the sometimes subtle difference between plagiarizing and paraphrasing.

Read the following paragraphs, which were written by Patricia O’Conner:

A good writer is one you can read without breaking a sweat. If you want a workout, you don’t lift a book—you lift weights. Yet we’re brainwashed to believe that the more brilliant the writer, the tougher the going.

 

The truth is that the reader is always right. Chances are, if something you’re reading doesn’t make sense, it’s not your fault—it’s the writer’s. And if something you write doesn’t get your point across, it’s probably not the reader’s fault—it’s yours. Too many readers are intimidated and humbled by what they can’t understand, and in some cases that’s precisely the effect the writer is after. But confusion is not complexity; it’s just confusion. A venerable tradition, dating back to the ancient Greek orators, teaches that if you don’t know what you’re talking about, just ratchet up the level of difficulty and no one will ever know.

 

Don’t confuse simplicity, though, with simplemindedness. A good writer can express an extremely complicated idea clearly and make the job look effortless. But such simplicity is a difficult thing to achieve because to be clear in your writing you have to be clear in your thinking. This is why the simplest and clearest writing has the greatest power to delight, surprise, inform, and move the reader. You can’t have this kind of shared understanding if writer and reader are in an adversary relationship. (pp. 195–196)

Source: O’Conner, P. (2003). Woe is I: The grammarphobe’s guide to better English in plain English. New York: Riverhead Books.

Paraphrase this passage from O’Conner using no more than 75–100 words. Remember that paraphrasing means summarizing the essence of the original text. It does not mean creating a thesaurus-based revision of the author’s original words or copying the piece, or any part of it, word for word. For this activity, do not use any direct quotes.

Turn your paraphrase into Grammarly and SafeAssign.

Review your reports.

Review the other tools, resources, and services available to you through the Walden Writing Center that support your growth as a scholarly writer.

Consider which of these resources you find to be most useful.

Review learning resources on APA formatting rules and information within the Walden Writing Center on APA

Post a description of your experience of using Grammarly and SafeAssign and share at least one insight you gained about paraphrasing and avoiding plagiarism as a matter of academic integrity.  

Recommend at least one other online resource that supports scholarly writing, and explain your rationale. Lastly, share two APA formatting rules with the class and a specific page number in the APA manual where this rule can be located

Support your Discussion assignment with specific resources used in its preparation using APA formatting. You are asked to provide a reference for all resources, including those in the Learning Resources for this course.

                        Learning Resources- Required Readings

American Psychological Association. (2010). Publication manual of the American Psychological Association (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Chapter 4, “The Mechanics of Style”

Chapter 6, “Crediting Sources”

Chapter 7, “Reference Examples”

Walden University requires all students to use the 6th edition of APA formatting. These three chapters present an overview of how to properly use APA formatting and provide numerous examples as a guide.

Chapter 1, “Writing for the Behavioral and Social Sciences” 

Section 1.10, “Plagiarism and Self-Plagiarism”

Chapter 3, “Writing Clearly and Concisely”

Chapter 6, “Crediting Sources” (Quoting and Paraphrasing) 

Section 6.01, “Plagiarism”

Section 6.02, “Self-Plagiarism”

These sections of the publication manual cover the principles of expository writing, properly crediting sources, and present strategies for avoiding the pitfalls of plagiarism.

Document: APA Basics Checklist: Citations, Reference List, and Style (PDF)

 

This document provides helpful information and links to APA resources available through the Writing Center.

Document: Citing a Discussion Posting in APA Style (Word document)

 

The information in this document focuses on how to cite a Discussion posting or response in APA style.

Document: Citing a Laureate Video in APA Style (PDF)

 

The information in this document focuses on how to cite a course media program in your text as well as create an entry for a reference list in APA style.

Document: Common APA Style and Formatting Challenges (PDF)

Document: Introduction to Scholarly Writing: Plagiarism and Academic Integrity (Word document)

 

This document supplements the information on plagiarism and academic integrity presented in the related video program.

Walden University. (2012e). Walden University: Plagiarism. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/63.htm

Walden University. (2012d). Walden University: APA style. Retrieved from http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/APA.htm 

 

Walden University offers a wide range of APA resources from a video tutorial to citation guidelines and includes information on other APA style issues.

 

Plagiarism, even when unintentional, constitutes academic dishonesty and can jeopardize your professional reputation. Review the information and resources presented by the Walden Writing Center for avoiding plagiarism.

Walden University. (n.d.). Grammarly. Retrieved from http://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter/grammarly

 

 Grammarly is a valuable tool all Walden University are encouraged to use. You will this resource as you prepare for this week’s Discussion

IMPORTANT: CHECK THE MEDIA PRESENTATION VIDEOS ATTACHED BELLOW TO COMPLETE THE DISCUSSION QUESTION

 

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Review your state’s mandated reporter statute. Provide details about this in your post. If faced with a mandated reporter issue, what are the steps in reporting the issue? Create a mandated reporter scenario and post it. Respond to one of your peer’s scenarios using the guidelines for submission/reporting in your state. Be sure to include a reference to your state’s website related to mandated reporting.

(the state will be florida in USA)

 

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Advocacy for patients is important to ensure that they are receiving the proper care (Helbig, 2018), and when they can’t voice for themselves, we, as nurses, should stand up for them and make sure the proper care and needs of our patients are given if at any time it is denied or is in need of investigation or proper resources. Communication and collaboration are key in the work environment in order to provide patient-centered care (Helbig, 2018).

I had an experience where the patient was seen and the doctor determined she had not been taking her medication as prescribed and had not attended PT.  The doctor came out of the room and instructed me to document non-compliance and to discontinue her treatment at the office.  I asked him what the problem was and asked if I could talk to the patient and see what may be the cause.  He gave me permission and I was able to determine the issues within twenty minutes.  As he was seeing another patient, I waited until he was done and asked to speak to him.  I explained to him the issue was the patient was in the hole with medication through Medicare and could not afford it, and was also having problems with transportation.  He gave instruction to document the result and find the resources and samples of medications the patient needed and we would supply them until she was out of the hole. Had I not intervened or advocated for the patient, she would have been labeled non-compliant as well as had to go through the process of looking for another doctor. 

 

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 Advocacy is as essential to the role of a nurse as any other aspect of nursing care. Interacting with patients more than any other healthcare provider, nurses are in the perfect position to serve as patient advocates (“Importance of Patient Advocacy in Nursing | UTA Online,” 2016) We as nurses are the ones who know the patient the best. We are at the bedside the majority of the time with these patients and families. We get to know them the best, so we as nurses have the responsibility to advocate for them.
I had a patient once who was pod #1 s/p laparoscopic gastrectomy sleeve. The patient seemed to be doing very well until he became very SOB, was complaining of chest pain, shoulder pain, he was tachycardic. This particular surgeon is very particluar with his patients and does not like to get anyone else involved. We strictly call him to his cell phone with any questions or concerns. However, in this case he did not reply promply to my call, so i had to call a RRT. Patient had to go to the ICU, and later found out that a patient had a leak. Had I waited for the surgeon to call me back or not called an RRT, the patient wouldnt have been treated promptly.
Advocating for our patients is crutial for them. We care for them in one of there most vulnerables times in their lives. They trust the heathcare professionals to do what is best for them.
 

 

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Discuss the importance of advocacy as it pertains to patient care. What is the nurse’s role in patient advocacy? Describe a situation in which you were involved with patient advocacy. Explain what the advocacy accomplished for the patient, and what the repercussions would have been if the patient would not have had an advocate.

 

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