Nursing is a highly exciting yet demanding occupation. It involves a great deal of study and knowledge, coupled with the endurance of long hours and a job that seems to never slow down. It is massively rewarding too and is a great career choice if you like to be busy, help people and think on your feet, then perhaps start thinking about becoming a nurse one day. To help with making this decision, there are a few critical skills that would come in handy if you were to become a nurse. Read them and see if they apply to you.
Naturally, there are certain prerequisites like taking certain subjects at school, attending a diploma or bachelor study to become a certain level of nurse and then completing clinical hours too. However, beyond all of this hard work and study time, some personal skills help nurses succeed in the medical industry.
Communication
Nurses have to communicate with a large variety of people, daily. They are often the ones to manage any incoming emails requesting prescriptions, making appointments, answering general questions, leaving a note for a doctor to get back to a patient when he has time and answering all kinds of online communication inquiries.
They are also the go-to person for all doctors in the hospital or healthcare facility. They are the ones doctors turn to when instructing a course of medical action. They are also the ones who hold a lot of the information about the patient, as they are often with the patients for longer than the doctors – cleaning them, administrating meds and coming to them during the night if they get sick. Essentially, it’s safe to say that nurses know an awful lot about the patient and so the doctors come to them for a lot of information and communication is at the heart of this interaction.
Furthermore, nurses also communicate with patients. They speak to them about medical topics but are also the ones that are sometimes needed for a listening ear when a patient is lonely or scared. Therefore, nurses need to be excellent, kind and clear communicators.
Critical Thinking
Both critical thinking and ‘thinking on one’s feet’ are massively important for anyone seeking to pursue a career in nursing. Nurses never know what situations are going to hit them when they enter the healthcare facility. They need to be prepared for everything.
Each patient presents his own set of demands and challenges. As does each doctor. It is the job of the nurse to be able to think on their feet when something goes wrong. Or come up with helpful solutions to make the lives of the patients and doctors easier. This is not only around medicine but it can be things like a patient forgetting correct visiting hours, wanting more food, refusing to eat something or simply wanting to watch more television in their room. Nurses have to deal with these situations in a kind yet stern way to avoid the patient becoming agitated and potentially harming themselves accidentally.
Time Management
Time is of the essence in the medical world, one second can mean the difference between life or death. Nurses are trained to manage their time well and not to be flustered by situations. The better a nurse is trained, the less likely they are to get flustered by a situation and waste precious time. Every nurse knows the importance of stellar time management and punctuality.
Teamwork
How does the saying go again? ‘Teamwork makes the dream work.’ Well, it could not be more true for the nursing industry. Anyone looking to become a nurse needs to have a genuine interest and passion for working within a team. Loyalty and shared responsibility are the bread and butter of a strong nursing unit. The stronger each member is, the stronger the entire team is. Even though there is usually a head nurse within a team and then subordinates, everyone works together to try to achieve the best result. The hierarchy is not set in place to create barriers but rather to encourage great work. Head nurses are there to be asked for advice and to lead. The rest of the nurses are there to support the direction of the head nurse and offer helpful suggestions along the way. Everyone listens to everyone and it is a true democracy.
