After completing your nursing school you must be thinking that now you have all the skills to become a good nurse, but that’s not the actual story, there is much more left for you to become a good nurse.
If you will try to adopt certain qualities and master some skills then there is nothing that can stop you from becoming an eminent nurse. Now, you must be wondering that what are the qualities of a good nurse, right?
Don’t worry as, I’m here to inform you regarding different qualities of an eminent nurse and give you the answers of all your queries, just stay with me to know more about it.
Following are the qualities a nurse must possess to become an expert nurse:
1. Emotional stability
There are many times in a nurse’s life when she has to deal with a roller-coaster of emotions including happiness, frustration, joy, sadness, trauma, surprise, satisfaction all at the same time. A nurse has to manage all of her emotions and get back to her work even in extreme distress.
I am not saying that a nurse should be emotionless and have no empathy towards her patients, instead a nurse should know where to show her emotions and where she should get over them and do her job. A nurse should never get overly attached with a patient she is dealing with because there will be many cases of deaths which may come in your way on a single shift which may be the reason for your distress and due to that you would not be able to provide medical care to the other patients. A nurse is required to provide care and support to the patient so she herself should be emotionally stable too.
2. Lifetime learner
The healthcare profession evolves every other day, new techniques and technologies to treat different diseases are being introduced every other day, so a nurse should be always ready to learn new techniques in order to deal with the diseases more efficiently. When a Nursing student graduates from the nursing school, it is not expected that he is expert in the clinical instead he learns everything gradually, a good nurse is always willing to learn from his senior’s clinical experiences and learn new skills along with different techniques into practice to improve the quality of treatment provided to the patients.
3. Expeditious thinker and efficient decision maker
As you can tell there is always a rush in the ER, so effective decisions are meant to be taken quickly, to do so a nurse must analyze the condition of the patient rapidly and think for the best possible treatment and medication that should be given to restore the health of the patient.
4. Hard working
What makes a nurse different from others? The answer is her hard work that she does to attain the position she has gained by working with diligence in her never ending, tiring 12 hour shifts and night shifts. An eminent nurse is sedulous and selfless who is willing to work long hour shifts because she knows that her patients need her more than she needs herself.
5. Reliability
An exceptional nurse is always reliable in treating the patients and performing the tasks assigned to her by the in-charge. A nurse should be enough trustworthy that a patient can rely on her for the treatment and the medications provided.
6. Always organized
An eminent nurse is always organized and prepared, she remembers the dose administration time of her patients along with the meal plans. An organized nurse knows what she should do next throughout her day, she keeps an accurate track about her patient and maintains a file for her patient to monitor his breathing rate, heart rate, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, blood sugar levels and other vital signs.
7. Physical fitness and physical endurance
To become a nurse, an individual should be physically fit and lift heavy weights because a nurse is required to shift the patients to the bed, wheelchair or stretcher whenever needed. The job of a nurse is not similar to that of an officer worker, the nurse is required to walk all day long and take rotations of the different wards to keep a check of the patient’s condition, for a nurse to perform his duty correctly he must have physical endurance and stamina to work across the hospital and report to the place of need.
8. Versatility
A nurse’s job is not like a desk job where you are provided with various tasks and you have to do those only instead a nurse has to be an expert in every ward whether it’s a surgery ward or a pediatric ward. A nurse should have prime knowledge and skills in dealing with each and every kind of patient including labour patients, pediatric, geriatric, surgery, traumatic patients etc. So, a nurse should have Versatility in her nature with respect to niche because a nurse can be required at any ward throughout the day.
9. Ability to prioritize
Prioritization is the main quality that a great nurse must possess in her nature, nursing is a selfless profession where a nurse has to prioritize her work over her personal life i.e. a nurse has to prioritize the patient’s life instead of her own. Prioritization is not an in-born quality, instead the skill is learned with time and experience. An exceptional nurse knows which patient to prioritize while providing them medical care that means a nurse can differentiate between a patient who needs her immediate care and the one who can wait for a while to get her help.
10. Smile
Great nurses are always cheerful, even at the most hectic times. Only nurses have a direct contact with the patient in the wards so whenever a nurse goes to attend a patient she must have a big beautiful smile on her face to brighten up the patient’s day and give him a moment of happiness. Having a smile on the face is the kindest of the acts, this makes a nurse more approachable and appealing which helps the patient to share his problems and concerns with the nurse which then can be solved easily.
11. Communication skills
The better of a communicator you are, the greater are chances that you are everyone’s favorite nurse! Having good communication skills are extremely important to create Interpersonal skills between you, your fellow doctors, nurses and other staff members, this can help you in treating the patients effectively. Also, communication skills are required to create an effective treatment plan for the patient as different nurses and doctors can discuss the disease and come up with a better treatment plan, while on the other hand miscommunication can lead to medical error and cause harm to the patients.
Moreover, the patient’s family completely relies on the nurse to tell them about the patient’s condition, so the nurse should be able to choose the appropriate words in order to inform the patient’s family about his condition.
12. Discretion
When you are treating a patient, you know all the details about his disease and his personal information as well. Each and every information regarding the patient should remain confidential and should not be discussed and shared with anyone you want! The patient’s information can only be shared with the fellow doctors and nurses who are attending the patient to make treatment plans and choosing the medication and their route of administration. In short, a great nurse would never discuss a patient’s information with anyone except for therapeutic purposes. So, medical and personal information of a patient have to be dealt with discretion.
13. Shows respect to others
Respect is the basic right of each and every individual on earth. A nurse cannot succeed if he/she does not respect his patients, fellow doctors, nurses and staff, above all a nurse must respect his job and do justice with it by treating the patients in the best way he could. A nurse should always respect the comfort and wishes of the patient and try to serve him in a way the patient wants along with that a nurse should always show gratitude towards the patients, his family members and other co-workers.
14. Leadership
Leadership is another salient quality that an eminent nurse has in her personality. The ability to lead is crucial for a nurse when it comes to guiding a group of nurses to get their work done in a precise manner. A nurse must know how to make others follow her directions while working in a team with her, also her decisions should be productive for the medical care provided to the patients.
15. Interpersonal skills
Besides communication skills, a nurse must possess good Interpersonal skills and have good relations with the fellow nurses, doctors and hospital staff to discuss a patient’s case and deal with it in an effective manner. Also, good Interpersonal skills between nurses and doctors can create an excellent and stress-free work environment which is necessary for patient’s health as well.
16. Empathy
It is one of the most important qualities a nurse must possess. Having empathy for patients is very important for a nurse as it helps a nurse to understand a patient’s point of view, it helps a nurse to get to know more about the patient’s needs and concerns. Empathy is crucial to promote divulgence between the patient and the nurse to ensure that the patient is telling his worries, preferences, pain and discomforts to the nurse properly. A nurse having empathy for his/her patient can help him to place himself in the patient’s place and know much more about the patient’s condition which can be effective for the treatment of the patient. Empathy towards patients improves patient care and boosts up the patient satisfaction.
17. Ethics
Great nurses have high ethical values, they are well aware of the acts that are correct and have a good sense of the things that are wrong, so they always follow their ethical values and try to act in the correct manner. The nurses need to maintain records of the patient, attend patients, administer dose, communicate with the attendants in the most precise and ethical manner.
18. Flexibility with time and niche
The job of a nurse requires a lot of mental and physical engagement by the individual. The nurses can be called on duty at any hour of the day whenever there is a rush at the hospitals even when they have just finished their 12 hour shift, they may be asked to do over-time because the patients need them. So, the nurses have to be flexible with time to serve humanity properly. Also, a nurse should be flexible with the nursing niche as well, because a pediatric nurse is expected to help out the patient in the emergency room whenever needed so in that case flexibility with the niche is also extremely crucial.
19. Sense of humor
The job of nurse is extremely hectic and stressful, from long hours of tiring work to dealing with serious patients in the ER, nurses get no time to cheer up and escape away from the stressful environment of the hospital, so a nurse should know how she can remain cheerful throughout the day and find some moments of happiness and laughter even during the work hours. A good nurse knows how she can make her patients cheerful and happy as well so that they will not get stressed before or after their surgery and other procedures.
20. Time management skills
Hospitals are always flooded with patients and a nurse has to deal with all of them. A nurse should possess time management skills and know how much time should be given to a specific patient. Time management is crucial in the hospitals as it will help in getting more work done effectively and quickly. A nurse can master the skills of time management by making notes, arriving at the workplace earlier, by avoiding multi-tasking and by prioritizing different tasks.
21. Compassionate
Nurses have a vital role when it comes to boosting up the physical and mental health of a patient, an eminent nurse knows how to support their patients emotionally during their tough times. Compassion towards the patient comes from empathy for patients, when a nurse is appointed to look after a patient who just went through a surgery after his horrible accident here, nurses have a crucial role in bringing patients back to life and convincing them to live their lives to the fullest.
22. Attention to details
A nurse knows that people’s lives are in her hands so she needs to be cautious and alert all the time to notice slight changes in the patient’s behavior and vitals. Paying attention to every minor detail of the patient is crucial when it comes to the nursing profession. A nurse must remember minor details regarding the patient’s case, know what’s written in the patient’s file, remember what treatment plan the patient is following and what kind of medication must be given to the patient. If the nurse is unable to observe the patient’s details thoroughly and confuse a patient’s details with the other then it may be harmful for the patient’s life.
23. Caring
So what do you think why nurses are appointed for a patient? To take good care of the patient and look after him, right? That’s where you can tell why taking care of a patient is necessary for a nurse. A nurse must possess caring nature towards the patients and his/her fellow workers to ensure that they feel secure and wanted. A nurse should provide care to the patient going through some of the tough times of his life and increase his morale in order to give him hope to live again.
24. Professionalism
Great nurses are highly professional and deal with their patients professionally, they don’t put up their personal grudges when it comes to treating a patient and providing him medical care. A good nurse is always professional in her work approach so they never ask for personal favors from her clients and treat each and every patient equally.
25. Problem solving skills and critical thinking
Many cases will arise in the hospitals where a nurse will have to handle a critical situation on their own and deal with the critical patient without any doctor’s support, so a nurse must be a critical thinker and have exceptionally good problem solving skills to get over any problem that may arise. A nurse should be capable enough to think critically and make effective decisions to save a patient’s life and protect him from any harm that he may face in the future. Furthermore, you never know when a tricky case might come your way, in order to deal with that a nurse should be a quick problem solver to deal with the traumatic patients, if an emergency patient comes in the ER and no doctor is available at the moment so, a nurse should think critically and do whatever she can do to stabilize a patient’s condition until the doctor takes the charge.
26. Good listener
Every person going through hard times needs a listening ear to share their feelings with, a nurse can be an excellent listening ear for the patient who is unable to share his emotions with anybody. Apart from a person who is appointed to look after the patient, a nurse can be a best friend to the patient, who can feel what he is going through and console him along with that give him hope that he will be as good as he was before the trauma happened to him.
27. Quick response
In the nursing profession there are many emergencies at the hospital so a good nurse must be quick enough to respond to different emergencies quickly and reach as soon as possible wherever he/she is needed. A nurse should always expect the unexpected and should be ready to report quickly to place wherever he/she is needed.
An eminent nurse is always ready to respond quickly to the place wherever the emergency arrives to provide immediate medical care. A nurse knows that any emergency can come at any hour of the day so she is always prepared to give her services wherever needed as soon as possible.
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