Freelance healthcare writing is something I love, having years of experience at both the patient’s and caregiver’s side. As a nurse with a wealth of practice to draw upon, I can speak to healthcare audiences, both professionals and patients. I recall many conversations, some mundane and some life changing, at times the change was positive and at times it was not.

The question of how does a nurse who is a freelance healthcare writer balance fact and empathy, well that is a query that is not simply answered. I would advocate that it is a question that does not have one answer but instead has a new answer for each time the question is posed.

I have had the good fortune of working with some incredible practitioners who were not only wise and talented but also compassionate

The purpose in my writing is to inform, encourage, and share. I never mean to offend, to criticize, to argue. However, writing is meant to make one think as well. So, if what I have written has caused you to ponder, to wonder, to potentially see another side of an issue, is that a bad thing?

Hopefully as we write and read, we are not only looking for someone to agree with us, however, admittedly that is what we are looking for at times. And that is okay. Yet shouldn’t our reading encourage growth? If something has caused us to research further, isn’t that a positive movement?

I need to turn this missive on myself. Do I read to find like-minded people? Yes, at times I do. Do those like-minded people help me grow, well they can. At times they help me better define what I

When writing for a skeptical audience I think the first step is to acknowledge their hesitancy and, if possible, justify their feelings. When involved in freelance healthcare writing, we should hope that people will question our data. No one should assume that because I am an experienced nurse doing freelance writing, I am an authority on all subjects. By presenting valid, current, credible research, I can write for an audience showing why I am the person to answer their questions. Another very important aspect of gaining trust is the willingness to say, I don’t know, I will find out, let me check that for you.

When I was a young nurse, it was very hard to say, “I don’t know.” I loved becoming an expert in the NICU. Along the way I had to learn many things. The circulator

Probably the most essential question to answer, in any article, is why does this matter to the audience? Without that question being answered, the article is of no value. I want to clarify, why something matters can vary in circumstances and for the individual. As a freelance healthcare writer, it is important to me to respond to each of those needs. Sometimes, the answer is an affirmation that what the reader is doing is correct or at least is not causing harm. Other times, the healthcare article matters because you are trying to get the answer of what to do next in a situation that is negatively impacting either you or someone you care about. A freelance nurse writer may be the best person to answer that for you. Another reason that a healthcare article can matter to the audience is t

The purpose in my writing is to inform, encourage, and share. I never mean to offend, to criticize, to argue. However, writing is meant to make one think as well. So, if what I have written has caused you to ponder, to wonder, to potentially see another side of an issue, is that a bad thing?

Hopefully as we write and read, we are not only looking for someone to agree with us, however, admittedly that is what we are looking for at times. And that is okay. Yet shouldn’t our reading encourage growth? If something has caused us to research further, isn’t that a positive movement?

I need to turn this missive on myself. Do I read to find like-minded people? Yes, at times I do. Do those like-minded people help me grow, well they can. At times they help me better define what I

Productivity is a measurement, busy is an action. Busy is having things to do, and truly busy is having one or more things that you need to do as soon as you finish what you are working on. To Do lists can certainly look like you are busy and at times they can keep you very busy. However, having a To Do list can also keep one productive.

Productive is the act of using one’s time efficiently and dedicating the appropriate amount of time to each task that needs to be completed. When used in the workplace, productivity can also speak to the number of people who are assigned to complete each task. If several people are completing the same task, none of them executing a unique aspect of the task or adding quality by having the second person involved, that does not lead to productivi

In nursing, most of my work was completed in a specialty care department, usually in an ICU or high risk, high stress environment. Because of that, I had to learn to think on my feet, moving quickly, responding decisively with confidence. At the same time, I needed to be very aware of what was happening around me, being prepared for the potential outcomes and need for change in directions depending on the patient response to the care. The type of nursing I was doing, whether at the bedside, in leadership, or mentoring and teaching, can best be compared to a sprint. Sometimes that sprint might last 12 hours, so it was important to stay engaged and sharp, with an awareness of what was critical to notice and shutting out the extra noise in the background that did not affect the incident at

As a nurse, I have education, both formal and earned through time at the bedside, in rounds, in the conference room, and in the office. As a young nurse, I felt like I had to know all things, or at least act like I did. That was not all bad, I had the bravado to speak with confidence in front of the patient, until I could step away to explore if I really knew what I thought I knew. This could have been dangerous if I was confident enough to act before checking. Luckily, I was too cautious to go there. In time I gained enough knowledge and courage to be able to say, I don’t know what that means, I am not sure how to do that, I have not heard of that, can you explain that to me?

So, what does it mean to write with authority as a nurse? Well, taking the experience and growth that

When it comes to health, I’m passionate about family because I have worked in Maternal Child health for so many years. During that time, I have worked to make sure that the baby and mother during labor were safe and healthy. I have worked to keep a mom pregnant, for “a few more days” hoping for a little more maturity of those lungs so baby would be better able to make it without profound BPD and ROP. I have worked to be sure that the neonate, no matter how small, was ventilated as gently as possible, to save all the lung capacity that we could. I have fed that baby, paying attention to the baby’s lead, making sure I did not cause any aversion, always aware that I could be causing lifelong struggles with food if I was not following the baby’s cue

What does advocating for a colleague look like? What do we need to do to adequately, and appropriately, advocate for a colleague? Is it our job to advocate for them, do they want us to do that? I believe those are all valid questions, and are important for us to consider, both from our own perspective and from the perspective of what this may feel like for them. Having said that, I have advocated for a colleague, many times, but I believe the most valuable times have been when I was their formal leader.

I have been a nurse for several decades and I have worked in very small hospitals, a 30-bed community hospital, to 350-bed trauma 1 centers. I have risen to a level of expertise at the bedside and was leading programs. I was the charge nurse, the one to reach out to when there was