Digital Commons Network^™

Has Technical Communication Arrived As A Profession, Kathy Pringle, Sean Williams

English Faculty Publications

This article examines the design and technology components of technical communication by investigating how practitioners imagine their work and the profession, specifically with respect to technology. In short, we wanted to interrogate the duality of “core design skills” and “technology skills” by asking practitioners to reflect both on the definition of technical communication and on the role technology plays in their work. We wanted to weigh claims that communication and rhetorical skills are important for success in the field against claims that knowledge of specific tools is likewise vitally important to success in the field. Technical communication historically has been …

Beyond 'Hot Lips' And 'Big Nurse': Creative Writing And Nursing, Sandra Young

English Faculty Publications

This essay describes a special topics creative writing course designed for nursing students, and argues that creative writing strategies work to improve nurses' compositional skills. Also discussed are other potential benefits from creatively writing patients' lives, notably, the blending of arts and sciences, and the ways in which medical schools are encouraging their students to study the humanities, especially literature and creative writing. The essay includes student creative writing samples.

The essay also discusses the depiction of nurses in popular culture. M*A*S*H*, Richard Hooker’s black comedy about the antics of doctors and nurses during the Korean War, gave us “Hot …