I remember at the beginning of the semester, the idea of actually completing all these projects was super daunting and impossible. Now we're halfway through guys!
What went right this week?
I think this week I finally got a good handle on the conventions of a podcast. I learned how to incorporate different kinds of music with fading in and out, and really perfected my intro and outro. Before this week, I think my content was good but the way I was presenting it wasn't. Now that I sound more confident and the form is better, the project is way more successful.
What were the challenges?
Even though I was able to learn the conventions well, the actual process of identifying them and applying them was pretty challenging. I wasn't familiar with GarageBand, so learning about it to manipulate my content was pretty time consuming. It was also challenging to narrow down my content and figuring out what it really meant for my field.
How will next week go?
The pre-production week is usually pretty relaxing after the pressure of finishing up a whole project, but I have a feeling that it will be hard to narrow down on a topic. I also have 2 tests, a proposal and a final next week, so I'm hesitant to say that it will go well.
How am I feeling about the project?
I am feeling confident about the form of my podcast. I worked hard to learn the conventions and apply them, so hopefully it turned out well. I think the content is good, but honestly, I'm pretty unsure. I was literal in pointing out the rhetorical aspects of my genre examples, so hopefully that's what the guidelines asked for.
Project 2 is done, on to the next project.
Sunday, March 27, 2016
Editorial Report b
Editing, editing, editing.
Rough Cut: Here's a link to the rough cut of the patient chart section of my podcast.
Re-edited Selection: Here's a link to my new, edited section.
How did the content change?
Rough Cut: Here's a link to the rough cut of the patient chart section of my podcast.
Re-edited Selection: Here's a link to my new, edited section.
How did the content change?
- My re-edited version is stating the same idea as my rough version, but I included a few more details and a snippet of my interview with Kaylyn Grammater. I think what really made a difference and made my edit better is the interview. It makes the content more interesting to hear it from someone else, as well as more credible since she is a registered staff nurse.
How did the form change?
- I don't know if this counts as form, but I think I'm speaking a lot more confidently and clearly in my edit- which makes a pretty huge difference, I think. I also changed the background music to a different instrumental rap song, because I could not let that idea go. Now it's Forbidden Fruit by J.Cole instead of No Role Modelz (I like J.Cole). I also included fading in and out of the music at different points of the segment. I think these changes improve my edit by making it sound more dynamic, and I find this music choice to be better/less distracting.
How's everyone else's progress going? Somehow editing seems to be taking longer than the first rough cut.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
Peer Review for Ben Macklin
I peer reviewed Ben Macklin's QRG titled, "Understanding the Genres of Neuroscience: Tips for Beginners."
I chose to use Activity 3 to peer review Ben's QRG, or a copy-editing suggestion. Basically, I reminded Ben that QRG's are made up of short, concise sentences and plenty of white space, that QRGs have a question and answer format, and that he should remember to hyperlink his sources. I think that this helped him because it's easy to be overwhelmed by all the new conventions, especially in a rough draft, and I know that having these reminders listed would have been pretty helpful when I did my QRG.
I referenced the QRG genre examples on d2L in my peer review for Ben, since most of what I told him had to with conventions.
What I really admired from Ben's rough draft was the organization of his content, and the content himself. It already seems like he has a very good handle of what he'll be talking about and what that means for the way people in his field write in general, which is a key aspect of the project (and something I wish I'd realized I had to know a little earlier).
Almost done!
Peer Review for Jake Gyles
I peer reviewed Jake's "Production Podcast," which he has under his open post to peer reviewers as a Youtube video.
I chose Activity 1, or making a content suggestion. I told Jake that I thought his description of his genres were good, but he should include more detail and be more specific. Letting him know that his analysis of each genre needed more detail should hopefully help him to make each genre more clear and create a more developed final cut. I also reminded him to include citations, which is just a part of the project's guidelines, and suggested he include some sort of sound effect in between transitions, so that they can be more clear.
I incorporated the Project 2 assignment sheet and other genre examples on d2L into my peer review for Jake. The assignment sheet states that we need to have an in depth rhetorical analyses for each of our genres, which I emphasized he include in his rough cut. I recommended a few conventions that I had found in the podcast examples on d2L, and comment on what he did well based on the examples as well.
What I really admired about Jake's rough cut was the way he spoke. He sounds very natural and conversational in his rough cut, which is something I'm really struggling with in mine. I don't know if he's reading off a script or not, but it doesn't sound like it, which is really good. His choice of words is interactive with the viewer as well, which are all things I'm going to need to improve on in my own podcast.
Just from looking at a few rough cuts from the class, everyone's sounds different and is unique somehow. It'll be interesting to see how they all turn out!
I chose Activity 1, or making a content suggestion. I told Jake that I thought his description of his genres were good, but he should include more detail and be more specific. Letting him know that his analysis of each genre needed more detail should hopefully help him to make each genre more clear and create a more developed final cut. I also reminded him to include citations, which is just a part of the project's guidelines, and suggested he include some sort of sound effect in between transitions, so that they can be more clear.
I incorporated the Project 2 assignment sheet and other genre examples on d2L into my peer review for Jake. The assignment sheet states that we need to have an in depth rhetorical analyses for each of our genres, which I emphasized he include in his rough cut. I recommended a few conventions that I had found in the podcast examples on d2L, and comment on what he did well based on the examples as well.
What I really admired about Jake's rough cut was the way he spoke. He sounds very natural and conversational in his rough cut, which is something I'm really struggling with in mine. I don't know if he's reading off a script or not, but it doesn't sound like it, which is really good. His choice of words is interactive with the viewer as well, which are all things I'm going to need to improve on in my own podcast.
Just from looking at a few rough cuts from the class, everyone's sounds different and is unique somehow. It'll be interesting to see how they all turn out!
Editorial Report
I'm not gonna lie, this podcast has been stressing me out. I didn't think this genre would be so challenging but figuring out the conventions is not easy!
Here's the link to the rough cut of my intro from my first draft.
Here's the link to my new and much much better/less awkward, edited intro.
How did the content change?
Here's the link to the rough cut of my intro from my first draft.
Here's the link to my new and much much better/less awkward, edited intro.
How did the content change?
- I made some much needed changes in my edited version. First of all, I made the intro much longer and changed the name. I started with the name of the podcast (which is much better than Pillow Talk) and then said my name, which already sounds better to me. I introduced the topic a little more concisely, then I went into the "set up the hospital scene" bit. I think it turned out to be a cool way to create a setting, and it makes the beginning much more interesting instead of just diving into the other content.
How did the form change?
- I think the changes I made in form are much more successful than my rough cut. I changed the opening song to Forbidden Fruit by J Cole instead of No Role Modelz (I think the instrumental rap is cool so I'm sticking with it) and now it's much less distracting. I also paused the music when I introduced the topic for emphasis, and I added the hospital sounds to my description. I think it perks your ear up more and just makes for a more interesting intro.
Like I said, figuring out the conventions in the world of podcasts is pretty time consuming. How're you guys handling it?
Monday, March 21, 2016
Open Post to Peer Reviewers
The rough draft, finally finally finallyyyy here. Here's the link to listen to my podcast on the way nurses write in their field.
IGNORE THE INTRO. It's awful and awkward and I'm going to re-do it. There was also a funny reason I named the podcast Pillow Talk (I was going to use that song too) but I didn't go through with it so the name doesn't really make sense. I will be changing this.
At this point, I haven't done much in the ways of adding sound or effects other than background music. I chose a few rap instrumentals (No Role Modelz by JCole, Regulate by Warren G and Ms Jackson by Outkast were my final choices) because I like rap and I think they're entertaining but they might be a little distracting. Maybe very distracting but I can't tell at this point. Right now its pretty much just my content, and I'm worried that it's coming off as uninteresting. I've yet to incorporate the excerpts from interviews as well, which I hope will break up the constant "me talking"-ness.
Like I said, I feel like a major weakness is how boring this seems. I know I can make it more interesting and I plan to do so this week. Also, like I said, the music might be distracting. I'm keeping it for now but I might have to choose something a little more neutral. I also think my voice sounds annoying, but that's something I can't fix, and it might just be from my own perspective.
Other than the fact that it sounds uninteresting, I think I made some good points in my analyses of the sources. I also think that the flow of the information makes sense, so I'm definitely going to keep the order that I have now.
IGNORE THE INTRO. It's awful and awkward and I'm going to re-do it. There was also a funny reason I named the podcast Pillow Talk (I was going to use that song too) but I didn't go through with it so the name doesn't really make sense. I will be changing this.
At this point, I haven't done much in the ways of adding sound or effects other than background music. I chose a few rap instrumentals (No Role Modelz by JCole, Regulate by Warren G and Ms Jackson by Outkast were my final choices) because I like rap and I think they're entertaining but they might be a little distracting. Maybe very distracting but I can't tell at this point. Right now its pretty much just my content, and I'm worried that it's coming off as uninteresting. I've yet to incorporate the excerpts from interviews as well, which I hope will break up the constant "me talking"-ness.
Like I said, I feel like a major weakness is how boring this seems. I know I can make it more interesting and I plan to do so this week. Also, like I said, the music might be distracting. I'm keeping it for now but I might have to choose something a little more neutral. I also think my voice sounds annoying, but that's something I can't fix, and it might just be from my own perspective.
Other than the fact that it sounds uninteresting, I think I made some good points in my analyses of the sources. I also think that the flow of the information makes sense, so I'm definitely going to keep the order that I have now.
Sunday, March 20, 2016
Reflection on Production Week
This was not my best production week, to be honest. The procrastination and spring break distractions really got the best of me.
What went well?
Not very much. I was surprised that it was easy to find my sources and analyze them, because I expected that that would be the hardest part, but it turned out to be the simplest part. I was able to easily find three sources per genre that I'm covering.
What were the challenges?
Time. Management. I procrastinated wayyyy too much this time and ended up with late blog posts. I also had a very hard time recording and editing. It's very time consuming and I feel like I'm spending too much time on that and not enough time on the content. I'm worried that it will be boring, and that I'm covering too much or too little. Overall, very confused.
What about next week?
I am hoping to get myself together next week. I know my project needs some serious love and attention, so I have a feeling this next week will be difficult. I hope I can clear up my confusion and put together something that will be entertaining and fulfill the project's requirements.
What about the overall project?
Like I mentioned above, the dominant emotion is confusion. I can't tell if I'm covering my topic in too much detail or not enough, and the conventions of a podcast are hard to get a hang off as well. I am pretty worried, honestly.
It's been hard, but I'm just hoping for a better following week and week back from break.
What went well?
Not very much. I was surprised that it was easy to find my sources and analyze them, because I expected that that would be the hardest part, but it turned out to be the simplest part. I was able to easily find three sources per genre that I'm covering.
What were the challenges?
Time. Management. I procrastinated wayyyy too much this time and ended up with late blog posts. I also had a very hard time recording and editing. It's very time consuming and I feel like I'm spending too much time on that and not enough time on the content. I'm worried that it will be boring, and that I'm covering too much or too little. Overall, very confused.
What about next week?
I am hoping to get myself together next week. I know my project needs some serious love and attention, so I have a feeling this next week will be difficult. I hope I can clear up my confusion and put together something that will be entertaining and fulfill the project's requirements.
What about the overall project?
Like I mentioned above, the dominant emotion is confusion. I can't tell if I'm covering my topic in too much detail or not enough, and the conventions of a podcast are hard to get a hang off as well. I am pretty worried, honestly.
It's been hard, but I'm just hoping for a better following week and week back from break.
Sunday, March 13, 2016
Production Report B
I am really so bad at talking into a microphone, it's amazing.
Outline Piece
Here's a link to my second piece of rough material. This is a part of my
Outline Piece
Here's a link to my second piece of rough material. This is a part of my
- As far as form, this piece is recorded since I'll be making a podcast. It's a short clip so there's no intro or music or anything yet. It's just a small piece of content.
- Like I mentioned, recording is so hard. I have a hard time not pausing and stuttering so this is not the genre for me I'm realizing. I have to do several takes for short little clips and it's taking forever. I am also getting nervous that it's boring. My content is not the most exciting, some I'm talking about charts and journals, so I'm having a hard time imagining how I'm going to keep it interesting the whole time.
My reading voice is so dry but I don't know how to sound emotive! How are you guys doing this?
Production Report
With spring break and midterms, this week hasn't been the best. The Production Schedule was meant to be my best friend, but is now an awful, annoying friend that reminds me of my responsibilities when I want to sleep.
Outline Item:
Here is the link to my first piece of rough material from my Content Outline. This part will fit into the first section on nursing patient charts.
Audience questions:
I am foreseeing plenty of issues in this project.
Outline Item:
Here is the link to my first piece of rough material from my Content Outline. This part will fit into the first section on nursing patient charts.
Audience questions:
- I decided to do a podcast for Project 2, which has proven to be way harder than I thought. My first piece of material is recorded and I tried my best to describe my first source. Not many other conventions are present since this is a section that will be in the middle of the others, so it wasn't appropriate to include music or introduce myself.
- Like I said.. podcasts are hard. Just figuring out how to record myself was a challenge. GarageBand has this horrible reverb/echo setting that I CANNOT figure out how to turn off, so my first few takes sound like I'm talking into a fan. So uploading and editing audio is going to be hard. I'm also having a hard time figuring out what kind of tone I want to use. At first I was reading off a script, but that sounded terrible. In the take I linked above, I was going off a few points and my own words, which I think sounds a little better. There are a lot of "ums" which I can't help, but I think it makes it sound more natural? Hopefully. You can tell that I at the end I kind of lost what I was trying to say, so I plan on editing that out.
I am foreseeing plenty of issues in this project.
Sunday, March 6, 2016
Reflection on Pre-Production
This production week was definitely different from the first, in both good and bad ways.
What were the successes?
I think all three of my interviews went very well. Practically everyone I emailed agreed to meet, so I got to pick and choose who I thought would give me the best perspectives. The interviews themselves went smoothly and everyone I talked to was friendly and eager to help.
I also think identifying some genres analyze went well, too. I honestly didn't think I'd find enough because the nursing field is so uniform, but I was able to identify three different ones that I think really complement each other.
What were the challenges?
I think my biggest challenge was not knowing what was going on for the beginning of pre production. I didn't understand what the project was really asking of me at the very start. If I had, I probably could've asked wiser questions in my interviews and gotten more specific information.
I also really struggle with time management, but this has remained pretty consistent through each deadline. I have never not find myself struggling to finish the blog posts and the project content in the last couple days, and 5-6 ams have been pulled. I am really hoping the production schedule will help me to manage my time more wisely this production week.
How will next week go?
Honestly, in comparison to the first production week, this week went pretty smoothly. I hope this trend continues into next week too. I know more about the kind of work that's expected of me now and the time I have to put in to do well, so I think that it should be a better production week overall.
Feelings on the project?
I'm having mixed feelings on this project. I feel like I have a good handle on the content and how to present it the way I want. But I also feel like I have no idea how to do a podcast and that it will be very awkward and time consuming at first. I also feel like I have a very busy next week, and that time management will stay an issue. The production schedule needs to be my best friend.
I am really liking this "less amount but more helpful" blog post idea. I think the actual planning of the project is really helping me envision the outcome.
I know we don't need pictures anymore but my blog feels empty and this dog is cute.
What were the successes?
I think all three of my interviews went very well. Practically everyone I emailed agreed to meet, so I got to pick and choose who I thought would give me the best perspectives. The interviews themselves went smoothly and everyone I talked to was friendly and eager to help.
I also think identifying some genres analyze went well, too. I honestly didn't think I'd find enough because the nursing field is so uniform, but I was able to identify three different ones that I think really complement each other.
What were the challenges?
I think my biggest challenge was not knowing what was going on for the beginning of pre production. I didn't understand what the project was really asking of me at the very start. If I had, I probably could've asked wiser questions in my interviews and gotten more specific information.
I also really struggle with time management, but this has remained pretty consistent through each deadline. I have never not find myself struggling to finish the blog posts and the project content in the last couple days, and 5-6 ams have been pulled. I am really hoping the production schedule will help me to manage my time more wisely this production week.
How will next week go?
Honestly, in comparison to the first production week, this week went pretty smoothly. I hope this trend continues into next week too. I know more about the kind of work that's expected of me now and the time I have to put in to do well, so I think that it should be a better production week overall.
Feelings on the project?
I'm having mixed feelings on this project. I feel like I have a good handle on the content and how to present it the way I want. But I also feel like I have no idea how to do a podcast and that it will be very awkward and time consuming at first. I also feel like I have a very busy next week, and that time management will stay an issue. The production schedule needs to be my best friend.
I am really liking this "less amount but more helpful" blog post idea. I think the actual planning of the project is really helping me envision the outcome.
Teerasuwat. "Chihuahua." 1/29/15 via pixabay. Public Domain. |
Production Schedule
Scheduling has never been my strong suit. I tend to push things off until the last minute and go with the flow with pretty much everything I do. College has been teaching me this is not the best way to go about things.. so here's my production schedule:
What needs to get done:
This week I need to edit my interviews to get the relevant content, decide on some specific genres to analyze, record myself, and edit everything into a rough draft. And the blog posts. So a lot.
Location:
Most of the recording will probably happen in my room, but I can see some late nights at the lib in the future as well.
Planned date and time:
Like I mentioned before, scheduling is hard for me. I'm going to try to stick to this the best I can:
Monday: huge chemistry proposal due, probably won't get much done
Tuesday: edit the interviews for relevant content, hopefully track done one source
Wednesday: track down the other two sources and analyze all three
Thursday: start planning what I'm going to say and recording my own audio. hopefully I'll be able to post a blog post by today
Friday: editting, editting, editting. Another blog post.
Saturday: I'll give myself Saturday to look over what I have and give it a second to settle with me. I'll write my reflection blog post today.
Sunday: look over the rough draft and make any last minute changes, then submit. Open up a post for peer reviewers.
Resources required:
Most of my resources I'll have access to online, so my laptop will be my best friend. The only thing I might have to search for physically is the patient charts.
Date completed:
Everything should be all ready and submitted by Sunday, March 13th.
Changes that might be made:
I can definitely see myself making changes after the first rough draft. I might come up with an amazing idea I have to include or my peer reviewers might point out a massive flaw. If I see a reason to change my draft, I won't hesitate to try and make it better.
I'm really really going to push myself to follow this schedule. The work load each day seems manageable, and I'd love to not be freaking out and dying come Sunday.
What needs to get done:
This week I need to edit my interviews to get the relevant content, decide on some specific genres to analyze, record myself, and edit everything into a rough draft. And the blog posts. So a lot.
Location:
Most of the recording will probably happen in my room, but I can see some late nights at the lib in the future as well.
Planned date and time:
Like I mentioned before, scheduling is hard for me. I'm going to try to stick to this the best I can:
Monday: huge chemistry proposal due, probably won't get much done
Tuesday: edit the interviews for relevant content, hopefully track done one source
Wednesday: track down the other two sources and analyze all three
Thursday: start planning what I'm going to say and recording my own audio. hopefully I'll be able to post a blog post by today
Friday: editting, editting, editting. Another blog post.
Saturday: I'll give myself Saturday to look over what I have and give it a second to settle with me. I'll write my reflection blog post today.
Sunday: look over the rough draft and make any last minute changes, then submit. Open up a post for peer reviewers.
Resources required:
Most of my resources I'll have access to online, so my laptop will be my best friend. The only thing I might have to search for physically is the patient charts.
Date completed:
Everything should be all ready and submitted by Sunday, March 13th.
Changes that might be made:
I can definitely see myself making changes after the first rough draft. I might come up with an amazing idea I have to include or my peer reviewers might point out a massive flaw. If I see a reason to change my draft, I won't hesitate to try and make it better.
I'm really really going to push myself to follow this schedule. The work load each day seems manageable, and I'd love to not be freaking out and dying come Sunday.
Content Outline
In this post, I have my tentative outline for Project 2. I'm hesitant to marry myself to this outline because I haven't had any luck finding one of my genre examples, but hopefully I can get it together and find some examples soon.
Opening section:
- In this section, I plan to open with some kind of introduction about myself since I'll be making a podcast.
- I find that posing some kind of question is a good way to grab the audience's attention. Something dramatic usually works too. "Do you ever stop to wonder how health professionals conduct their writing? You probably should. You trust these people with your life in their hands. Wouldn't it be smart to know how they communicate?"
- Another way to grab the audience's attention might be to hype up the interviews I did. Maybe something like, "Including exclusive interviews with our own published UofA professors and alum!"
1st body section:
- I plan to separate "body paragraphs" into the different genres I'll be exploring.
- The first can be patient charts since it's the most different from the other two genres.
- I'll explain what they are as well as the audience, context and purpose.
- 1st piece of evidence: This is where I can include snippets of my interview with Kaylyn, since she mentioned them.
- It's important because as a new RN, it's already a very important aspect of her career.
- This is important to mention because it relates to the audience; most people have been/know someone who has been in a hospital.
- 2nd piece of evidence: I'll be able to cite a specific example of a chart and rhetorically analyze it.
- I hope to prove the importance of this genre in the nursing field (since its so patient centered), as well as emphasize the type of language that's used and how objectively written they are.
- A very important thing to note is that these documents are seen by many people involved with the patient, like other nurses and doctors, so they need to be accurate.
- These documents may also be used in legal battles, which is huge.
2nd body section:
- In this section I plan to focus on nursing journals.
- 1st piece of evidence: snippets from the interviews I did with both Professor Rene and Professor Peek.
- They are both nurses with plenty of experience writing for journals, so they mentioned many key elements like their process and specific audiences.
- This will be important because it will spice up the podcast (since it won't just be me talking) and prove that it's real world applicable.
- 2nd piece of evidence: an example of a nursing journal and an analysis of it.
- As of right now, a good example I found was in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.
- This piece of evidence will hopefully prove how much work goes into publishing a journal and the vast amount of information that nurses can learn from them.
- It will be important to emphasize this because this is how nurses learn new practices and educate themselves within the field, so the kind of care they give remains up to date and betters with time.
3rd body section:
- In this section I will talk about the lectures and conferences.
- 1st piece of evidence: snippets from the interviews with Professor Rene and Professor Peek.
- They both attend conferences and give lectures on the type of writing and journal (and therefore research) they do.
- This will be important because it's essentially a public forum and a means of spreading information in the nursing field through word of mouth.
- This will be interesting to point out because the other two genres were print or online sources.
- 2nd piece of evidence: adding some audio from a lecture and analyzing it.
- I believe this will prove the implications and effect that writing in journals and researching has on the nursing field. People gather to talk and learn about it, so it's not like their work is published and just sits out there and no one cares.
- This is important so that people can have an idea of the content in the journals. It's also important to contrast this genre to just a journal, because the process and form it takes on is so different.
Closing Section:
- In this section, I'm gonna take some time to explain how all of these genres are connected and build off each other.
- Without the journals to guide nurses and give them new information on techniques and patient care, nurses wouldn't be able to remain informed and function as well. The charts would (most likely) deviate from each other and lose the uniformity they have, which makes it harder ti conduct research. This is the kind of research that is used to write the nursing journals in the first place, so organized nurses are essential. The lectures and conferences make this information more public and create a discussion forum to better the research and patient care, which creates better nurses who can conduct better research and write better journals. Pretty much a huge connected cycle.
- Finally, a bring back the part about how essential well trained and informed health care givers are to everyone who's been in a hospital or who has family in a hospital. This affects everyone in some way.
And an outline was born.
Report on My Interviews
I ended up somehow conducting three interviews on Professor Rene Love, Professor Gloanna Peek, and grad student Kaylyn Grammater.
What genres did I learn about?
What genres did I learn about?
- Kaylyn is a brand new RN, so she was able to tell me about patient charts. Professor Love and Professor Peek both write for nursing journals, so they were able to tell me about that. The professors were also able to tell about the types of lectures and conferences they attend, as well.
How do these genres differ from each other?
- Patient charts are the most different genre of the three. They are meant to objectively give information on the patient and the kind of care that they are receiving. Some online versions follow a certain format or genre convention, but some nurses just freely write them without a form. The charts are meant to inform other nurses and doctors about the patient, and may also be used as legal documents if a problem comes up in court. Their purpose is to inform the audience (nurses, doctors, attorneys) of the patient's stay.
- Nursing journals can vary quite a bit from each other, which is why I think I can identify some sub genres within this one. All the journal usually follow similar genre conventions; an abstract, introduction, bolded subheadings, presenting the information, and a conclusion. They are usually written by a team of authors researching together, but some people are able to publish them alone. Their purpose depends completely on the content. Some are meant to just inform, and others can help nurses adjust the way they administer care.
- Lectures and conferences can also differ quite a bit. The author is usually just one nurse, but the content depends on the situation. The professors mentioned giving lectures about the content they've published, so that other nurses would read their work. There aren't really steady conventions for this genre. They both said that they have submitted powerpoints and slides before they give a lecture, so that the people attending have an idea of what they will speak about. As far as giving the lecture, there is plenty of creative room for the form and content to be different. The audience and message is also dependent on what kind of lecture and conference the speaker is attending (but the audience is usually other nurses).
What are the challenges?
- Kalyn mentioned that a challenge she encounters while writing patient charts is remaining objective. The patient chart may end up being used by lawyers, so it has to be as scientifically written as possible.
- Both professors mentioned that a recurring challenge is writing as a group for nursing journals. It's hard to divide the work and make sure everyone stays on task, as well as writing in the same style throughout the entire article.
What's rewarding?
- Patient charts are an integral part of the patient's care because it allows for all the nurses and doctors to stay on the same page. Kalyn said that being able to give the patient the best care and stay in touch with them throughout their healing process was very rewarding.
- Both professors mentioned that they felt that writing journals and giving lectures helped better the nursing field in some way. By informing other nurses on their findings, they are allowing other nurses to continue to learn and give better care.
Where can these genres be found?
- Patient charts are not easily found in the mass media. They're kept confidential by hospitals to ensure the patient's privacy. Mock charts can be found in nursing colleges' files as a means to teach students.
- Nursing journals can be found simply by Googling a few key words. They can also be found easily on databases.
- Videos and recording of lectures can be found on the websites of certain organizations who sponsored the conferences, as well as on Youtube.
The interviews are done! On to production.
From Academia to Social Media
One author published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing is Patricia Gellasch. She wrote for one article titled "Developmental Screening in the Primary Care Setting: A Qualitative Integrated Review for Nurses".
Where could I find her?
I was able to find Patricia on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Where could I find her?
I was able to find Patricia on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
What is she like on social media?
On LinkedIn, Patricia is formal and shares about all her experience as a nurse. She isn't brief and goes into depth about her career. I learned that she has her own nursing consulting company, has worked as a RN in several places, and has a log history of medical writing.
On Facebook, Patricia is much more family oriented. She posts about her husband and three little boys, and chats with her family in the comments. She lives in New Jersey, so there are plenty of beach pictures with her family and friends. She shares a few nursing articles here and there, but it's primarily cute baby pictures.
On Twitter, Patricia has never tweeted and has four followers. Same, Patricia.
Back to the article;
Patricia's LinkedIn follows the article pretty closely, since she emphasizes her professional life and the article involved extensive research and professional writing. Her Facebook full of silly baby pictures and fun family memories is a little different, but it makes sense to me. It's clear that she loves her kids and she is a pediatric nurse doing research on children with developmental delays.
I can now say that I've desperately stalked about ten nurses on social medias.
Academic Discourse & Genre
Time to take a closer look into the journal I analyzed in the previous blog post:
How many genres are published in this journal? How would I describe them?
As far as form, all the articles follow the same kind of format ( a bolded title, an abstract, presenting the findings with bolded titles, and a conclusion). Because of this, the different genres within this journal can be differentiated using the content. I found that the content could be divided into 4 general genres; articles made to just inform on facts(like population), articles written to present information so that changes could be made to the practice, articles published to explore the role of nursing, and articles written to explore the fact that current practices have on patients.
Examples of these genres and their purpose:
Like I mentioned before, all the articles follow the same form. The differences between them lie in the content and the purpose of each article. Here are a couple of examples (all of them are screenshots from the Journal of Pediatric Nursing) :
- This example I put under my "article written to explore the role of nursing" category.
- The purpose of the article is to study how nurses are perceived and present that information.
- There's no specific "do this" in this article; the nurses who read it just gain a better understanding of how they're generally perceived. What they choose to do with this information is up to them.
- This example I put under my "articles written to present information so that changes could be made to the practice" category.
- The purpose of this article is to present new strategies nurses can incorporate to improve the way they care for their patients.
- As opposed to the article above, this one has a definite "do this" element to it.
- This example I put under my "articles made to just inform on facts(like population)" category.
- The purpose of this article was to research and present the findings.
- Nurses have no way to use this information and apply it to the way they treat patients. It's just factual information that is generally good to know to understand family dynamics.
I'm finding that most nursing journals don't really deviate in form, so the genre is based on content. I can see how this will be a challenge when I'm choosing my genre examples. Is anyone else having this issue?
Rhetorical Analysis of Academic Journal
To anyone who may be wondering, the main library does not have any of the medical journals. So don't go there and look everywhere for them because you won't find any. You'll have to walk all the way to the health and science library on Speedway and Cherry. And you'll get lost. And then when you get there you'll realize that all the nursing journals are 10+ years old so you'll have to walk all the way back to campus empty handed. The moral of the story is check the library website first always.
Fortunately, I was able to rhetorically analyze the most recent issue of the online version of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.
Fortunately, I was able to rhetorically analyze the most recent issue of the online version of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.
The authors
There are very many authors published in the most recent issue of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing (Volume 31, Issue 2) because most articles have a whole team of authors-sometimes 6 or 7 people. To save time for myself and the readers, I chose to focus on the editorial board of the Journal.
- The editors are Cecily Lynn Betz, Myra Martz Huth, Nancy Blake, Sandra Mott, Jan Foote, Mary D. Gordon, Deborah L. McBride, Karen Goldschmidt, and Becky J Schmidt.
- Next to all the author's names their credentials and educational background are posted, as well as where they're from.
- All the editors are portrayed as professionals with plenty of experience, which makes sense if they're the ones editing these scholarly articles.
The audience
- The primary audience for this journal in general is other pediatric nurses. The titles and content of the articles are driven towards people who understand the content already and can apply it to their practice.
- A secondary audience could possibly be families of children who deal with health ailments (this journal mentions diabetes and autism). The articles are about how nurses should treat children with these ailments, so it can benefit families of these children to know the type of care their children should receive.
The context
- This issue was published in 2016, on an online platform. The journal is well organized and pleasing to the eye with plenty of white space and a few graphics. This issue focuses particularly on treating children with diabetes, obesity and autism, and how to support their families. Towards the end of the issue, the articles become more centered on preventing of spread of disease and the strategies pediatric nurses should take.
- The content I mentioned above could be shaped by the time that this issue was published. The beginning of 2016 has been wrought with the spread of disease, hence why there are several articles on disease prevention.
- Most nursing journals follow the same general format (abstract, introduction, presenting the research, and a conclusion). This issue is no different and follows this convention.
The message
- It's hard to cite one specific message to a whole journal, but I believe that one possible message could be "Delivering the best pediatric nursing care possible can better the future by preventing disease and keeping families happy." I decided this based on the types of articles that are posted in this issue. They all have to do with family care and prevention, with a focus on improving nursing care for the future.
The purpose
- The purpose goes hand in hand with the message. I believe the purpose is to inform pediatric nurses everywhere of the optimal type of car they should be giving their patients. The purpose is to better the nurses, which betters the patients and healthcare everywhere.
Now it's time to find more genre examples!
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