title: The genesis of 'the Neophytes': a writing support group for clinical nurses.
abstract: This paper profiles the establishment and evaluation of the Neophyte Writers' Group, run by nurse academics in collaboration with clinical nurses. The growing demand for nurses to write, publish and present their work had inspired the introduction of a series of workshops designed to develop and improve writing and presentation skills, which eventuated in formation of the Neophytes. The group was founded on the basis of Bandura's theory of self-efficacy (1997), a concept which has been discussed extensively in social psychology literature to explain motivation and learning theory. People with high assurance in their capabilities regard difficult tasks as challenges to be mastered rather than as threats to be avoided (Bandura, 1994). The Neophytes' group employs a collaborative approach intended to increase and reinforce members' self-confidence; the underlying philosophy is to promote and enhance writers' motivation, capacity and self-efficacy in order to achieve future publication goals confidently and independently. Support which engenders these strengths through a program relevant to participants' needs is likely, as this group found, to increase publication productivity. Additional unexpected outcomes resulted, such as engagement by clinical nurses' in academic work, and an increase in research higher degree enrolments.
authors.affiliation: School of Nursing and Midwifery, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia. Teresa.stone@newcastle.edu.au
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stone
authors.forename: Tracy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Levett-Jones
authors.forename: Margaret
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.forename: Peter M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Sinclair
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D004509:Education, Nursing, Continuing / Q000458:organization & administration*; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D009042:Motivation; D009517:New South Wales; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration; D009740:Nursing Staff / Q000193:education / Q000523:psychology; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010687:Philosophy, Nursing; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011643:Publishing / Q000458:organization & administration; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012657:Self-Help Groups / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014956:Writing / Q000592:standards