Writing patient care reports: author guidelines for VNs part 2
Abstract
This article is the second of the two-part series on writing patient care reports (PCRs). As previously discussed, published PCRs provide a valuable means for veterinary nurses to share clinical experiences with their colleagues while increasing their knowledge base and contributing to the establishment of evidence-based veterinary nursing practice. In this article, the authors aim to provide potential authors of PCRs with a set of practical guidelines and instruction on how to write detailed and succinct reports to a publishable standard.
The first part of this paper was published in the March issue of The Veterinary Nurse. This second part deals less with the reasoning and reported benefits of writing and publishing veterinary nursing patient care reports (PCRs), which was discussed in the first article in March. Part two aims to provide readers with a more practical guide to how PCRs in veterinary nursing might be structured and set out and offers a model of nursing as a way of helping potential authors focus their discussion section on issues relating directly to the nursing care which was or which could have been provided to the patient.
The title page should contain the title of the PCR which should aim to provide a concise and accurate overview of what the PCR is about (of about eight to ten words in length). As discussed in part 1, the authors suggest using title vocabulary which includes the words ‘patient care report’ rather than ‘case report’ as a way for veterinary nurses to foster a more patient focussed approach (Welsh and Orpet, 2011). For example:
Register now to continue reading
Thank you for visiting The Veterinary Nurse and reading some of our peer-reviewed content for veterinary professionals. To continue reading this article, please register today.