Scholarly written expression is a difficult skill for many graduate-nursing students, as it is not a topic generally taught in undergraduate nursing programs. The acquisition of writing skills is a long term learning process requiring personal practice, considerable effort and the involvement in training activities (Zimmerman & Kitsantaas, 1999). This study describes the implementation and evaluation of a one credit-writing course developed for an online graduate nursing program in the southeastern United States. The study summarizes students' perceptions of their writing self-efficacy before and after the writing course. During the third week of class and during the last week of the fall semester the first year graduate students were asked to complete the PSWSES: Post-Secondary Writing Self-Efficacy Instrument. Additionally, students and faculty were interviewed to evaluate the course and the extent to which the course and program learning outcomes were met.
