Writing for publication: Sharing your clinical knowledge and skills

Clinical nurses are ideally placed to write for publication in addition to those who work in academia who have this as an accepted part of their role. Nurses generate new evidence from their work in practice by carrying out research and audits and being involved in practice development projects, for example. This resource of knowledge needs to be shared with others, ideally in an international arena so that nurses can learn from each other. Nursing in the United Kingdom is now an all graduate profession and many nurses go on to study at both Masters and PhD level, providing writing from all levels of academic study that can be adapted for publication. It seems wrong to undertake a study and obtain findings and then choose not share this widely. Both a lack of confidence and time are cited as reasons why nurses do not write; however, to share knowledge with others is a duty as part of any nursing role for the improvement of staff working practices and patient care. All nurses need knowledge that is practical, experiential, and scientific; clinical nurses who write for publication can provide this.