Evaluating Scientific Writing Skill in DNP Program Students.

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.