Collaborating to write and publish articles may assist nurses in increasing rates of publication. Scholarly writing for the nursing profession is crucial for dissemination of the work of nurses to advance ourselves and the nursing profession (Ness, Duffy, McCallum, & Price, 2014). Unfortunately, for numerous reasons, many nurses find it difficult to participate in evidence-based projects, research, and writing. Clinical, educational, and logistical constraints make it difficult to publish, but collaborating with a team can be an effective way to produce publications (Ness et al., 2014). Rickard et al. (2009) found that completing a structured writing course followed by additional group meetings can increase publication frequency. Group writing is intended to increase self-confidence and self-efficacy and enhance motivation so that the writer may become more confident and independent to succeed in publishing further without the writing group (Houfek et al., 2010; Stone, Levett-Jones, Harris, & Sinclair, 2010). Group writing can be done in person or via multiple technologic modalities; meetings are most effective when there are preset schedules. There are many meeting formats that can be used, but most importantly, the group should define guidelines from the start. Some groups have all participating individuals writing the same manuscript, and other groups have members come together, but they are independently working on their own manuscript and use this time to assist other members with proofreading, motivating to stay on track, and to receive feedback on their own work (Shellenbarger, 2017).
The American Pediatric Surgical Nurse Association is an organization that brings together many members with the same interests and is a great resource to assist individuals in forming writing groups, and the Journal of Pediatric Surgical Association has an active mentorship program that can further motivate the group to move forward with writing and publishing.
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