Reading Like a Nurse: A Synthesis of Literacy Studies

Introduction
Postsecondary nursing students must master dense, complex texts and apply that information in clinical contexts. Understanding how learners acquire this disciplinary literacy (and how educators can most effectively scaffold it) is critical. This presentation synthesizes two original studies that illuminate what it means to read like a nurse and how undergraduates develop the habits and expectations of professional nursing readers.

Goals and Methods
The first study, a multi-stage curriculum audit of U.S. nursing courses, mapped the literacy demands embedded across the curriculum, identifying the specific skills and strategies students must acquire. The second, a phenomenological expert-reader think-aloud study using layered metaphor elicitation, explored how practicing nurses approach and process professional texts. Together, these forward-looking (student development) and backward-looking (expert practice) approaches provide a comprehensive view of nursing literacy development.

Results
Findings reveal that professional nursing reading is application-driven, multi- and trans-disciplinary in scope, and requires synthesizing multiple text types and sources. Expert participants described the process as “reading like a detective” and "reading like a private investigator," highlighting the iterative, analytical reasoning essential for expert comprehension and clinical decision-making.

Conclusions
Integrating curricular analysis with expert reading practices highlights the complexity of disciplinary literacy in nursing and the challenges novice learners face in reaching expert levels. This synthesis offers actionable insights for designing curricula and instruction that more effectively support students as they transition into the demanding literacy practices of professional nursing. It additionally offers methodological insights for such deep-dive investigations of becoming an expert reader in other disciplines.