MSN Students' Self-Assessed Use of the Knowledge, Skills, and Attitudes of Scholarly Writing

AIM This study explored master of science in nursing students' self-assessed use of the evidence-based knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) of scholarly writing. BACKGROUND Understanding MSN students' self-assessed use of the KSAs of writing can help faculty better prepare MSN graduates to advance the science of nursing through scholarly writing. METHOD A descriptive correlational design was used to determine how a national sample of 76 MSN students assessed their ability to demonstrate the KSAs of scholarly writing and to determine associations between select demographic variables and the self-assessment results. RESULTS Participants were familiar with the KSAs of scholarly writing and used them with varying frequency. No associations were identified between demographic variables and the KSA self-assessment ratings. CONCLUSION Additional writing opportunities and inclusion of a variety of writing assignments could increase use of the KSAs and therefore facilitate the development of scholarly writing abilities needed to advance nursing.