| Course | NURS 6001 Foundations of Graduate Study |
|---|---|
| Week | Week 2 |
| Paper type | Paraphrase comparison set |
| Length | About 580 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Walden University |
| Program | Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NURS 6001 Week 2
Paraphrase Comparison Set: One Source Passage, Three Reworkings
Student Name
College of Nursing, Walden University
NURS 6001: Foundations of Graduate Study
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Paraphrase Comparison Set: One Source Passage, Three Reworkings
Source Passage
The passage below comes from a study in which researchers watched nurses on six wards of two Australian teaching hospitals prepare and give medications (Westbrook et al., 2010, p. 683):
"Error severity increased with interruption frequency. Without interruption, the estimated risk of a major error was 2.3%; with 4 interruptions this risk doubled to 4.7%."
Version A: Patchwriting
The seriousness of errors rose with how often interruptions happened. With no interruption, the estimated chance of a serious error was 2.3%; with four interruptions this chance doubled to 4.7% (Westbrook et al., 2010).
Annotation: Every sentence keeps the original's skeleton. "Severity" became "seriousness," "frequency" became "how often interruptions happened," "risk" became "chance" and "major" became "serious." The order of ideas, the sentence boundaries and the framing of the statistics are all borrowed. The citation does not fix this. Without quotation marks, the version presents the authors' sentences as the writer's own. Howard (1995), who named the practice patchwriting, saw it as a stage many writers pass through while learning a field's language, but in graduate work it is still treated as a form of plagiarism.
Version B: Direct Quotation
Westbrook et al. (2010) summarized the pattern in one short sentence: "Error severity increased with interruption frequency" (p. 683).
Annotation: The exact words are in quotation marks, with a page number. Quotation is the right choice here only if the wording itself matters, for instance if a paper is going to build its argument on that compact claim. For most purposes a paraphrase serves better, because graduate writing is expected to show the writer's own understanding rather than a string of quoted findings.
Version C: Paraphrase
Each additional interruption during a medication round made a serious mistake more likely: in one large observational study, the estimated chance of a major error roughly doubled between rounds with no interruptions and rounds with four (Westbrook et al., 2010).
Annotation: The idea is restated in a new structure and vocabulary, and the statistics are summarized rather than copied. The sentence combines two of the source's points in the writer's own order. It is still cited, because the idea and the findings belong to the authors, and a paraphrase without attribution remains a borrowing.
Reading a Similarity Report
If all three versions were submitted to a similarity checker, Version B would show a match for the quoted sentence, Version A would show several partial matches, and Version C would likely show little or none. A similarity percentage flags text for review; it does not prove misconduct. A correctly quoted and cited sentence will match its source by design, and faculty read the highlighted passages rather than the number. A low percentage does not prove originality either: a patchwritten paragraph with enough synonyms can slip under a threshold and still be an unacknowledged borrowing of structure. Walden's Writing Center treats paraphrasing as a skill to practice rather than a rule to avoid, and its guidance stresses changing both words and sentence structure (Walden University Writing Center, n.d.).
My Rule for Quoting
I will quote only when the exact words are the point: a definition I need to use precisely, a claim I am about to challenge, or wording that cannot be improved. Everything else I will paraphrase. To test each paraphrase, I will close the article, write the idea again in my own sentences, and only then open the source to look for any structure I carried over without meaning to.
References
Howard, R. M. (1995). Plagiarisms, authorships, and the academic death penalty. College English, 57(7), 788-806. https://doi.org/10.2307/378403
Walden University Writing Center. (n.d.). Writing Center home. https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/writingcenter
Westbrook, J. I., Woods, A., Rob, M. I., Dunsmuir, W. T. M., & Day, R. O. (2010). Association of interruptions with an increased risk and severity of medication administration errors. Archives of Internal Medicine, 170(8), 683-690. https://doi.org/10.1001/archinternmed.2010.65
The Walden NURS 6001 Week 2 instructions
Week 2 of NURS 6001 commonly asks for a paraphrasing exercise that shows you can avoid plagiarism. You select a source passage, write patchwritten, quoted and paraphrased versions, explain the differences and often interpret a similarity report. Faculty grade recognition ahead of production, so the annotation must explain why patchwriting fails. Cite the source and APA guidance in APA 7. Paraphrases still need citations. Patchwriting is treated as a form of plagiarism even when cited. Your own quoting rule shows understanding. NURS 6001 faculty want the source passage quoted exactly with its page number, each version labeled and the annotation explaining the difference in plain terms.
How the NURS 6001 Week 2 example is put together
The source passage opens the page, a few sentences from a peer-reviewed article on interruptions during medication administration, set as a block with its citation. Three versions follow, labeled A, B and C. Version A swaps synonyms into the original sentence skeleton and keeps its order, the pattern known as patchwriting; the annotation beside it highlights each borrowed structure. Version B quotes the key sentence exactly, with quotation marks and a page locator, and explains when quotation is the better choice. Version C restates the idea in new structure and vocabulary, still cited, because a paraphrase without attribution remains a borrowing. A short paragraph then interprets a similarity percentage, noting that matched text flags material for review rather than proving misconduct. The set closes with the author's own rule for when to quote.
Reading the NURS 6001 Week 2 rubric
Recognition earns most of the credit here, ahead of production. Faculty want evidence that the author can see why Version A fails, so the annotation must name the borrowed structure rather than calling the version too close. A second row checks that Version C is a paraphrase in fact, which markers test by comparing sentence skeletons, not word lists. APA mechanics carry their own weight: the quotation needs its locator, the paraphrase needs its citation, and both reference entries must match the in-text credit. Pieces lose ground when the paraphrase simply reorders clauses, when the similarity paragraph treats a low percentage as proof of originality, or when the chosen source is a website rather than a scholarly nursing article. A brief closing rule on quoting is inexpensive to include and shows the lesson transferring beyond the exercise.
NURS 6001 Week 2 help: mistakes that cost marks
Paraphrase sets lose the most when the annotation does not explain why the patchwritten version fails. Name the borrowed structure and phrases. Another common gap is a paraphrase that still follows the original sentence by sentence. Change structure as well as words. Writers also forget the citation on the paraphrase. Add it. Avoid quoting without a page number. Explain how a similarity score can mislead. Keep the source passage short. Close with your rule for quoting. Writers also forget that common terms, such as medication administration, are not plagiarism when shared. Say what can be reused. Another frequent slip is a paraphrase that changes the meaning. Check it against the source.
Get a NURS 6001 Week 2 example written to your instructions
Share the Week 2 task and the rubric from your section, plus the source passage if your instructor supplied one, and a comparison set gets written on that text. It costs nothing the first time and comes back within 24 to 48 hours, every annotation included so the reasoning behind each version stays visible.
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NURS 6001 Week 2 questions, answered
Which source does the example use for its passage?
A short excerpt from a peer-reviewed nursing article on interruptions during medication administration, chosen because the topic is familiar to most practicing RNs. Any passage your instructor supplies or approves can replace it. What matters for the rubric is that the source is scholarly and the passage is dense enough that a careless paraphrase would visibly fail.
Is patchwriting treated as a form of plagiarism?
Faculty generally treat it as improper borrowing, because the sentence structure belongs to the original author even when every word has changed. The example stays out of policy interpretation and shows the pattern instead, so it can be recognized on sight. For the rules that govern your own submission, the academic integrity policy published by the university is the authority, and the sample sits inside it.
Does a paraphrase still need a citation?
Always. A paraphrase changes the words and structure, but the idea still belongs to its source, so APA 7 requires the author and year in text and a matching reference entry. Page or paragraph locators are encouraged for paraphrase and required for quotation. The example includes both kinds of citation so the difference is visible in one place, and your version adopts whichever emphasis your instructor sets.
Where can I find a free NURS 6001 Week 2 sample paper?
The three-version paraphrase set is reproduced here with the source passage, patchwriting, quotation, paraphrase, the similarity report notes and the quoting rule.
Which study supplies the passage in NURS 6001 Week 2?
Westbrook and colleagues' 2010 study of interruptions during medication administration.