Nursing is a hugely responsible job that offers up many challenges –often on a daily basis – to be overcome. It’s a hard job, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Why do so many people choose to go into nursing when it’s so difficult and when many other jobs would be much easier? It’s because nursing is such a rewarding career. It is incredibly fulfilling, and on top of that, there are great career advancement opportunities; it is everything that anyone might want from a career rolled into one amazing profession that is respected and loved throughout the world. There is a lot more to love about nursing than there is to dislike.
Yet, although nursing is a career that offers a great number of benefits to those who choose to go into it, not everyone is going to enjoy those benefits, and not everyone is going to make a good nurse. There are some qualities that nurses must have to be good at what they do and be able to enjoy what they do, and if you possess them and you are keen to help others in the most unique way possible, then nursing could be for you. Read on to find out what these essential properties are, and you can start your nursing journey today.
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Advanced Communication Skills:
There are dozens of different qualities that a good nurse needs to have, but communication skills are perhaps the most important of all. Without these communication skills, it will be very difficult for a nurse to make themselves heard and understood, and this could mean that patients aren’t treated in the right way. If you are able to communicate well, you will be able to put your point across, you will be able to explain what you are doing, you will be able to talk to a wide range of people from doctors to patients and their families, and there will be a clear and concise amount of information given.
Nurses who are unable to communicate well won’t be the ones who are remembered fondly by their patients; they won’t make an impression, and they won’t get on well in their careers. Yet don’t let this put you off if you are considering becoming a nurse or even taking a fast track into nursing after another career by studying an accelerated nursing program online; it is possible to learn how to be a good communicator. Overcoming shyness is the first step and something that can be done through a few different methods such as therapy or hypnosis, but also through having more confidence in your work and, of course, experience. The longer you are a nurse, the better a communicator you will become if you set your mind to it.
Interpersonal Skills:
Interpersonal skills are linked to good communication skills, although there are enough differences for us to include it as a separate entry on this list. When combined with great communication skills, fantastic interpersonal skills can make all the difference to the nurse’s career and the lives of the patients they are treating.
Interpersonal skills essentially mean that you are able to communicate not just with your colleagues and peers but with anyone and everyone, offering them the same great care no matter who they are or how they ended up being in the hospital and in need of a nurse in the first place.
It won’t be easy to master your excellent interpersonal skills, at least not for some people, but it is certainly possible as with communication skills. It all begins with being empathetic to your patients; in doing this, you will start to learn more about what people want and how they want to be treated, giving you the opportunity to become much better at these all-important interpersonal skills.
Hard Working:
Nurses are known to be hardworking, but you might not know just how hardworking you will need to be until you experience it for yourself. For those who are always hard at work, the nursing profession is not one that is going to cause them too many problems in this regard; in fact, it is the ideal career for those who enjoy going above and beyond in their work because that is something you will be expected to do as a nurse. It’s one of the crucial qualities you will need to have.
The difference when it comes to a nurse working hard and someone else is, at least sometimes, the fact that nurses do it because they want to. They have chosen a career in which they have to work hard in order to do well and in order to help their patients (and colleagues) in the best way. Some careers mean that people have to work hard, which is the big difference between wanting to and having to.
You will have a good idea of whether you’re a hard worker before you start thinking about applying for nursing school. You can think about your school life or your career up until that point; were you always looking for ways to improve and do more? Or did you do the bare minimum and hope it was enough? If you fall into the former category, you will want to do well when you are a nurse. If you fall into the latter category, it might be more difficult for you because the hard work will come as a shock.
High Standards of Professionalism:
When you are a nurse, another quality that will always help you do well is to have high standards of professionalism at all times. It should make no difference what you are doing, who you are working with or who you are helping, or what level of nursing you have so far achieved; you will need to be professional all the time.
Sometimes this is difficult. You might be feeling tired, perhaps you have had to deal with a difficult patient, maybe your studies are difficult, and you have an exam coming up – maybe there is a problem in your home life. However, none of these things should have any kind of impact on your work, and this is why nurses must have high standards of professionalism. Your patients and colleagues will expect it, and it’s what they will need to have from you, whatever else might be going on in your life.
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