I am in the Crump Theatre, historic 1800s theatre in downtown Columbus, Indiana. My vendor table is set up right by the bathroom, advertising my Traylor Writing Services Center editing service. So, I literally catch visitors coming and going. I have many give aways and workshop sign-up options for my visitors. As I sit here listening to speakers and waiting on interested passersby, I think about the days I sat behind a desk charting in patient charts. I would begin by documenting the orientation of my patient to person, place and time. In writing, I demonstrate the ordinary life, time and place of the main character of the story. In nursing documentation you must chart the patient’s physical characteristics and head to toe account of health or injury. In writing, the author must offer an account of the physical characteristics unique to the character. The relationship between writing a book and nursing documentation are not so far removed that a likeness cannot be found.
All writing requires showing the reader an image through words. Nursing is very visual and requires the ability to recognize the normal from the unusual in a patient’s health and well-being. A nurse should be able to relay that information through accurate and detailed documentation so other healthcare providers can follow up on changes and recognize any unwanted patient illnesses. Writing a book requires no less detailed documentation of character description, scene, or setting. The only real difference in writing for nursing versus a book would be that nursing documentation requires strict adherence to facts with little flourish of descriptive adjectives for artful flow.
Listening to the learned speakers of the conference as they wrap-up their monologues and people drift down the halls, I have the urge to document the swagger of each character into a journal. Creating a written image of the day, and of the people.
sherrystruthtofiction 