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Updated: Dec 15, 2025
Using Learning Outcome Measures to assess Doctoral Nursing Education
Published on: June 21, 2010
Evaluating Scientific Writing Skill in DNP Program Students
Michelle DeCoux Hampton1, Linda Chafetz
1Author Affiliations: Associate Professor and Doctor of Nursing Practice Program Coordinator (Dr Hampton), San Jose State University, California; and Professor Emeritus (Dr Chafetz), University of California, San Francisco.
Background/Problem:
Scientific writing skill development interventions in nursing are widely represented in the literature, but the specific skills required are poorly defined and measured.
Approach:
This study used a cross-sectional, descriptive design to compare scientific writing skill assessment of doctor of nursing practice students' final project reports using 2 rubrics.
Outcomes:
Of 13 skills, the strongest were: adherence to a standard structure, paraphrasing, and grammar, punctuation, and style. The weakest were: use of primary sources, concise, nonredundant presentation, and critical appraisal. Overall interrater agreement for the general essay writing rubric was 69.6%, and that for the scientific writing rubric was 82.3%.
Conclusions:
Compared to the essay rubric, the scientific writing rubric was more useful for identifying skill strengths and weaknesses and improved interrater consistency.
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