Make writing a daily habit: An evaluation of an educational intervention to improve writing self-efficacy among DNP students

Background and objective: Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) students are trained to integrate both clinical care and evidence-based research in order to bring together science with application. However, the educational pathways in DNP programs can be problematic, especially with regards to scholarly writing. While several interventions have been utilized for DNP students, the results show that the intervention(s) used should be tailored to the specific student body being served. However, limited evidence exists regarding the effectiveness of tailored interventions on improving central concepts such as writing self-efficacy. Given these differences in the design and delivery of the DNP curricula, we created a tailored educational-writing curriculum for new DNP students at a medium-sized academic medical center in a Southern state.Methods: We assessed changes in writing self-efficacy over the three measurement intervals using linear mixed effects modeling to account for within-student clustering of writing self-efficacy scores over time.Results: Baseline scores of writing self-efficacy improved immediately after the workshop (Timepoint 2 – immediate post-test) and a full semester later (Timepoint 3 – semester post-test). However, we observed no statistically significant difference between Timepoint 2 (immediate post-test) and Timepoint 3 (semester post-test).Conclusions: We saw a significant benefit in writing self-efficacy among incoming DNP students from baseline scores. The tailored format and integration of real-life anecdotal feedback from faculty may have been fundamental to creating an increase in writing self-efficacy among students—a concept foundational to student, and possibly professional, nursing success.