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In this article, Conal Hamill aims to contribute to the on-going debate about the appropriate use of first person writing in academic nursing assignments and provide guidance for nursing undergraduates.
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In this article, Conal Hamill aims to contribute to the on-going debate about the appropriate use of first person writing in academic nursing assignments and provide guidance for nursing undergraduates.
key words
Study skills
Student nurses
These key words are based on subject headings from the British Nursing Index. This article has been subject to double-blind review.
Hamil C(1999) Academic essay writing in the first person: a guide for undergraduate. Nursing Standard, 13,44,38-40. Date of acceptance: May 14 1999.
FOR SOME time now I have been concerned with the writing gymnastics that many undergraduates go through when attempting to write an academic essay as part of course requirements. Somewhere between leaving school and entering the academic nursing world they have been seduced into thinking that good essays are always written in the third person. This dilemma was further highlighted for me when a qualitative research article of mine was accepted for publication (Hamill 1995). The external reviewer maintained that the article would have 'read better if written in the third person.' This was despite the fact that the introduction outlined why it was written in the first person and cited three sources of supporting literature (Porter 1993, Reid 1991, Webb 1992).
While most nursing undergraduates will not yet have had the opportunity to undertake research, it is nevertheless important to recognise when first person writing is appropriate, and equally important, when it is not. The examples below (Box 1), taken from assignments I marked recently, clearly demonstrate students' struggle with third person literary style.
Although these examples are taken from the introductions to student essays, the use of 'the writer' or 'the author' is often repeated throughout the text. Somewhere in the course of undertaking pre-registration nurse training these students have been erroneously advised that good academic writing requires a cool, detached, analytical and objective stance. Such a stance avoids using 'I,' 'we,' or 'our.' Often this results in the tortuous and repetitive use of 'the author,' 'the writer' or 'the present author,' when students are in fact referring to themselves. Burnard (1994) rhetorically asks 'Who, if not 'I' is writing these words?'.
What is first person writing?
Writing in the first person means referring to yourself as 'I' or when reporting on something involving colleagues, as 'we' or 'our.' There are times when this approach is appropriate when writing nursing essays. What needs to be challenged is the assumption held by some nurse educators that literary convention demands third person writing. Burnard (1994) has noted that this problem has become a clich6 in nursing education. He cites a survey of 81 academic journals (Kirkman 1992) from a wide range of disciplines, which found that only seven did not permit the use of 'I', 'we' or 'our'.
A dichotomy exists between the philosophy underpinning holistic patient care and the perceived formal conventions of academic writing. Students are encouraged to develop therapeutic relationships with patients. This involves the student in a warm, embracing relationship, in which he or she gives of him or herself, thus becoming subjectively involved in the care of the patient. Often,. as part of course requirements, the student has to write a case study, a reflective exercise, or a critical incident analysis on the care provided. The student is encouraged to write about this experience from the perspective of a neutral and objective position that is totally at odds with his or her subjective experience. This requirement has to be challenged. The thoughts and insights gained by students in a variety of care settings are of great value in terms of their overall personal and professional development. Encouraging students to write in a style that is incongruent with their experiences ultimately detracts from the overall quality of those experiences and the potential for learning from them.
Areas where it might be appropriate to write in the first person are outlined in Box 2. Descriptors for first and third person writing are described in Box 3.
It should be noted that first person writing may be viewed by some as being less academic and so not requiring integration of evidence from published literature. This is not the case. The ability of the student to write in a style appropriate to the demands of the exercise and to integrate relevant and up-to-date literature is the hallmark of a truly reflective practitioner. Girot (1997) suggests that students need to learn to analyse situations and use supporting literature and not merely describe events.
What is third person writing?
Writing in the third person is traditionally the accepted way of producing academic work (Goodhall 1995, Northledge 1990). For most essays this means avoiding the use of 'I', 'me', 'my', 'we' or 'our'. In their study guides, both Northledge and Goodhall argue for an objective and analytical writing style. This promotes the idea that students ought to learn how to review literature by producing arguments based on evidence, rather than their own subjective likes or dislikes. However, Northledge's book is primarily aimed at Open University (OU) undergraduates and other students taking modules within a variety of OU courses. It is therefore appropriate to recommend writing in the third person. Goodhall's book is primarily aimed at healthcare students, specifically those studying nursing, physiotherapy and occupational therapy. All of these disciplines require students to engage with people in varying degrees of need and distress. The developing self-awareness of the student can be facilitated by setting assignments that require students to think, analyse and reflect on their own contribution to patient care. It can be argued that these assignments ought to be written in a reflective first person style.
Is there an alternative?
because students struggle with these issues they often produce texts that do not read particularly well. There are of course alternative ways of phrasing sentences, as illustrated by the following examples:
In this essay the writer will attempt to analyse the concept of caring. The author will examine literature on models of caring and discuss their usefulness.
The central aim of this essay is to analyse critically the concept of caring. A variety of literature on models of caring will be examined and their usefulness discussed.
You should note that both conform to the generally accepted third person literary convention but the second one avoids the use of 'the writer' or 'the author'. In this case a dispassionate, objective stance would be appropriate to analyse the positions adopted by theorists within the literature. A rational argument could then be produced without necessarily agreeing with either position. First person writing for the above assignment would be inappropriate, as the assignment does not require any element of personal reflection.
It depends on who marks it
There can be little doubt that students are fearful of responding to assignment advice given by lecturers if the message from the entire faculty is not consistent. It is therefore appropriate that students in the first instance adhere to the assignment guidelines produced by their respective educational institutions. There are forums where issues such as the acceptability of first person writing in certain assignments can be debated with teaching staff. At one time qualitative research articles would not have been published if written in the first person, or the authors felt the need to justify their stance (Hamill 1995, Reid 1991). Thankfully, in respect to publishing qualitative findings, all but a few die-hards acknowledge that first person writing is indeed appropriate. Interestingly, the RCN's Masters in Nursing Dissertation Guide (RCNI 1997) suggests that: '...whatever your perspective, you write in the first person, where appropriate.'
There are some excellent articles available that aim to help students in the construction of academic essays (Booth 1996, Lowry 1995, Edwards 1998, Hendry and Farley 1998, Price 1996), as well as books on the subject (Goodhall 1995, Maslin-Prothero 1997, Northledge 1990). Unfortunately only Girot (in Maslin-Prothero 1997) provides any detailed instruction on first person reflective writing. Students need to learn when it is appropriate to write in the first or third person. Clarification should be sought by students from their respective nurse lecturers or advisers of studies. Needless to say, schools of nursing ought to have a policy on requirements for assignment submission so that the message is consistent.
Writing in the first person is appropriate to developing personal and professional qualities of self-awareness, reflection, analysis and critique. This does not mean that a subjective, emotional stance is sound academic endeavour on which to build an argument. Rather, the analysis of published evidence, together with an integration of the students' thoughts, feelings and experiences in a care setting, will go some way to closing the gap between theory and practice. This will help redress the academic drift which some nursing undergraduate courses have been accused of. Go on, give it a try and, where appropriate, challenge the conventional literary third person style. You might just be surprised at the results
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT My thanks to Dr Carolyn Mason for her review of an earlier draft of this article.
REFERENCES
Booth Y (1996) Writing an academic essay: a practical guide for nurses. British Journal of Nursing. 5, 16, 995-999.
Burnard P (1994) Keep it simple. Nursing Standard. 8, 34, 41.
Edwards SL (1998) Critical thinking and analysis: a model for written assignments. British Journal of Nursing. 7, 3, 159166.
Goodhall CJ (1995) A Survivor's Guide to Study Skills and Student Assessments for Health Care Professionals. Edinburgh, Churchill Livingston.
Girot EA (1997) Advanced writing skills: developing skills for APL/APEL claims. In Maslin-Prothero S (Ed) Balliere's Study Skills for Nurses. London, Bailliere Tindall.
Hamill C (1995) The phenomenon of stress as perceived by Project 2000 student nurses: a case study Journal of Advanced Nursing. 21, 528-536.
Hendry C, Farley A (1998) Reviewing the literature: a guide for students. Nursing Standard. 12, 44, 46-48.
Kirkman J (1992) as cited by Burnard P (1994) Keep it simple. Nursing Standard. 8, 34, 41.
Lowry M (1995) Planning and writing academic essays. Nursing Standard. 9, 22, 25-27.
Maslin-Prothero 5 (Ed) (1997) Bailliere's Study Skills for Nurses. London, Bailliere Tindall.
Northledge A (1990) The Good Study Guide. Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Porter S (1993) Nursing research conventions: objectivity or obfuscation? Journal of Advanced Nursing. 18, 137-143.
Price B (1996) How to write an essay. Paediatric Nursing. 8, 2, 6-9.
Reid B (1991) Developing and documenting a qualitative methodology. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 16, 544-551.
Royal College of Nursing Institute (1997) Dissertation Guide (MSc in Nursing/Distance Learning, Module Code NUM64Q). London, RCN. p60.
Webb C (1992) The use of the first person in academic writing: objectivity, language and gatekeeping. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 17, 747-752.
Conal Hamill BSc(Hons), RMN, RGN, RNT, is a Nurse Lecturer at the School of Nursing and Midwifery Queen's University of Belfast.
Copyright RCN Publishing Company Ltd. Jul 21-Jul 27, 1999