Academic writing retreats for healthcare professionals: development of the Oxford WRITE toolkit.

Abstract

Background: Academic writing retreats offer nurses, midwives and allied health professionals (NMAHPs) opportunities to engage in research, enhance their research capabilities and produce publishable outputs. However, there are deterrents to running retreats, including time-consuming administrative loads. A toolkit to facilitate the organisation of retreats may therefore increase their number and quality by reducing administrative burdens.

Aim: To report on the development and piloting of the Oxford Writing Retreat Implementation Tools for Excellence (WRITE) toolkit.

Discussion: The authors created a toolkit to facilitate the organisation of high-quality writing retreats for NMAHPs. They evaluated WRITE using a pilot and interviews with the pilot retreat's organisers. Their findings indicate the toolkit is comprehensive, user-friendly and adaptable to local contexts. It also reduces the time and resources required to organise writing retreats, which gives NMAHPs more frequent writing opportunities. They also found toolkit components needed clearer labelling and application forms for attendees should be more detailed.

Conclusion: WRITE is a valuable resource for organising high-quality, reproducible, writing retreats for NMAHPs. Its availability and adaptability make it suitable for widespread implementation internationally.

Implications for practice: WRITE facilitates the efficient organisation of writing retreats, potentially increasing their frequency and accessibility. Its user-friendliness may lower barriers to retreat organisation, expanding opportunities for NMAHPs to engage in academic writing activities. This may lead to increased research outputs and scholarly contributions from this healthcare demographic.