14 Essays about Nursing Students Can Write

Define your nursing philosophy or talk about current nursing events with one of these 14 essays about nursing.

From defining your nursing theory and nursing philosophy to exploring the shortage of nurses in today’s society, many topics lend themselves well to crafting nursing essays. If you are a nursing student facing an essay writing assignment, the first step is finding the right topic.

The field of nursing is constantly evolving. As technology changes, so does the nurse’s role in the modern healthcare setting. In addition, healthcare changes impact the overall stress and well-being of nursing professionals, contributing to changes within healthcare. Many of these facts lend themselves well to essays. This guide will help you choose a topic for your essay that will engage your creative thinking. Take some time to research to select the best topic, and then write an essay with meaning and merit.

For help with your essays, check out our round-up of the best essay checkers.

1. How Telehealth Has Changed the Field of Nursing

The modern nurse has more technology than ever before. Many technological advancements, like electronic medical records, positively impact patients’ health. Telehealth is one such advancement, allowing nurses and doctors to interact with patients virtually, without the time and risks of an in-person appointment for minor medical conditions.

Your essay can discuss how telehealth is changing nursing as a career. Is it a benefit to public health? Does it create challenges for nursing professionals? Should it be something you need to study in your nursing program? Answer these questions in your essay.

To help with this topic, read our guide explaining what is persuasive writing?

2. What Are Nursing Ethics, and How Do They Affect Patient Care?

The nurse role is vital in the busy world of medicine, but without ethics, patient care suffers. The health care system relies heavily on these professionals. Nurses are the advocates that fight for patients and deliver the most direct patient care, and as such, they must follow an ethical code.

Nurse ethics is a good starting point for an engaging and interesting essay. Nursing ethics covers four main principles: autonomy, beneficence, justice, and non-maleficence. Discuss each of these four principles in your essay, and connect them to impact on patient care.

3. What is the Role of Nurses in Society?

Nurses have many roles within society. While their role in health care settings may be the most obvious, they also are vital to providing health education and promoting healthy living in the community. your essay can touch on these additional roles that nurses play both within and outside the medical field.

As you develop this essay, consider the impact of nursing on overall public health. Develop an argument that the profession of nursing is a key component of keeping communities healthy, even without their role within medical clinics and hospitals, because of the education and advocacy they provide.

4. Why Starting Your Nursing Career as a Registered Nurse Makes Sense

Nursing students have many potential ways to pursue their nursing education. Some will start as LPNs, begin working, and then attain BSN and registered nurse credentials. Your essay could argue that this may not be the wisest career path, indicating instead that nurses are better off pursuing RN credentials from the beginning.

Starting with a bachelor’s degree and registered nursing credentials can save money and time. It also opens the door to higher-paid nursing positions. Many hospitals are now requiring a BSN and registered nursing credential as the base credential for their nursing professionals, thus starting out with one makes sense.

5. When Does It Make Sense to Become an Advanced Practice Nurse?

An advanced practice nurse is a nurse with a master’s degree or post master’s level training. This includes certified nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, certified registered nurse anesthetists, and certified nurse-midwives. Your essay could look at case studies and career potential to determine if it makes sense for the average nurse student to become an advanced practice nurse.

As you consider this question, look at the pros and cons of an advanced degree. The cost and time commitment can be hard on nurses and their family members, but the payout in terms of pay and career potential may be worth that cost. Decide where you stand on this question, then defend your answer in your essay.

6. What Is My Philosophy of Nursing?

If you are a nursing student who needs to tackle essay writing as part of your training, you could define your nursing philosophy in this essay. This essay is a more personal one, but you should show critical thinking and a dedication to preserving the quality of life for your patients as you outline your philosophy.

An essay about your philosophy of nursing can be part of your portfolio and resume when the time comes to search for a job, so put some thought and effort into this one. The essay and your definition of your philosophy will also help determine the quality of care you provide to patients.

7. Should Nurses Be Allowed to Prescribe Some Medications?

Sometimes, patient care suffers because nurses are not free to prescribe medications for simple conditions like strep throat. You could create an essay that argues that some acute conditions with obvious diagnosis and treatment options should be things nurses can treat without the direct intervention of a doctor or nurse practitioner.

Of course, you could also argue that the current regulations are best because a doctor’s oversight protects the patient’s health. Either way, choose a position, then use persuasive essay writing tactics to argue it.

8. Fostering Teamwork Between Nurses and Physicians to Improve Quality of Care

Nurses serve as the right-hand help to modern doctors. They assess the patient’s condition, provide immediate care if the patient is in distress, help record treatments, and diagnoses, and support the doctor in any way necessary. Teamwork between the nursing team and the doctor is vital to supporting a high quality of patient care. Yet many roadblocks can hurt that teamwork, including attitudes of both nurses and physicians against collaboration.

Your essay can discuss why teamwork between physicians and nurses is so important. It can then address those roadblocks and what can be done to eliminate them and support better patient care.

9. Soft Skills Required in Nursing Work

Most people know that nurses need good math and science abilities to provide a high level of patient care, but what about the soft skills necessary? Soft skills are the personal attributes that make someone a success in their career path. Your essay can outline nurses’ soft skills to do their jobs well.

To be a good nurse, you need to have good communication skills and a high level of confidence in your abilities. You need empathy to deal with sick patients and their family members, adaptability to handle work that changes daily, and good problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Outline these types of soft skills and provide suggestions for where nurses can learn them outside of the classroom.

10. Gender Equality in the Nursing Profession

Since the days of Florence Nightingale, nursing has been predominately female. Only about 12% of the current nursing workforce is male. While the number is growing, there is still a significant gap. Yet male nurses tend to earn more than female nurses for performing the same job.

Your essay could look at why there is inequality in nursing, and whether or not this is a problem for health care professionals. You could touch on wage discrepancies and discuss how schools could attract more male nursing students.

11. The Role of Empathy in Patient Care

Nurses fulfill the role of caregivers in hospital and clinical settings. They are the ones that deliver prescribed treatments, ensure patients are comfortable and communicate outcomes with family members. All of these roles require a high level of empathy.

Your essay could discuss how empathy is vital to providing a high level of patient care. It can also discuss how nurses can develop more empathy if they lack this particular soft skill.

12. How COVID-19 Contributed to the Nursing Shortage

The current nursing shortage has many contributing factors, but the COVID-19 pandemic made an already difficult situation worse. The high-stress environment, especially for critical care nurses, took its toll on the current population of nurses, and many are looking to step away from healthcare. The high pay for travel nurses caused many working in the field to step away from their home hospitals and clinics to take travel nurse positions, hurting local healthcare providers.

In your essay, discuss the many factors of COVID-19 that led to nurses stepping away. Then, look at how this has made the nurse shortage even worse. Finally, look at potential solutions that could attract more new students to nursing school in a difficult and challenging time.

13. The Negative Impact of Nurse Burnout

The nursing shortage continues to be a serious problem in the healthcare industry, and nurse burnout can be a significant contributing factor to this. In one 2022 survey, over one-third of nurses say they will likely step away from their work by the end of 2022, and burnout was a cause cited by 44% of them.

Your essay can discuss the causes of nurse burnout and its impact on the healthcare industry. You can also discuss potential solutions to this problem and how to reduce the risk of burnout when working as a nurse.

14. What Nursing Theory Do I Hold?

Nursing has a range of theories that help define nurses and their role in the healthcare setting and society. As a nursing student, you should know what nursing theory you hold, as this will define the way you care for patients. You can write a personal essay that defines and outlines your nursing theory.

For example, do you adhere to the Theory of Comfort, which indicates patient comfort is the immediate desirable outcome? Or do you believe in the Cultural Care Theory that indicates care should be in harmony with your patient’s cultural and religious beliefs? As you learn more about different nursing theories, you will probably find a personal philosophy is a mixture, so define where you stand on these important topics.

If you are interested in learning more, check out our essay writing tips!