Nurses are no less than the backbone of our healthcare system. Their job is the most demanding of all. Quickly responding to emergencies, sleepless nights, witnessing deaths, consoling patients and attendants, and having knowledge about everything are a few aspects of their job. Nursing is not only a highly paid job but is also a very rewarding one. Serving humanity must be very fulfilling for people who choose nursing as their occupation. Nurses carry huge responsibilities on their shoulders. With such high expectations from this occupation, a nurse must have the qualities to do justice to their responsibility. But what qualities must they possess? Let us look at these qualities that only the best nurses have.
Table of Contents
1. Have Exceptional Knowledge
Imagine you describe your symptoms to a nurse, and they are clueless. Does this ever happen? Never, right? This is because all nurses are supposed to know a little about everything. They must have a vast knowledge of human anatomy and all problems related to it and are required to know so much to be able to help all kinds of patients that walk into the hospital. Often, they encounter situations when a patient has a variety of illnesses. In such cases, they must have the correct knowledge to control one illness without having any side effects on the others.Such detailed knowledge that is provided to them in nursing education master’s degree programs must be retained so that they can implement it during their practice.
2. Have High Emotional Intelligence
There has been a rise in the importance of emotional intelligence in the past few years. Nursing is an occupation that requires this quality in abundance. Emotional intelligence is to be aware of your and others’ emotions. Nurses are met with tricky situations every day. Informing a patient about their deteriorating health conditions is not everybody’s cup of tea. Scared, unable, and in need of guidance, patients have to be taken care of specially. A soft skill like emotional intelligence is important to help them in the process. When a patient enters the hospital with severe symptoms, it is their responsibility to make not only prompt arrangements but also relieve the patient’s stress.
Emotional stability is also a part of this quality. Nurses have to witness deaths and deteriorating conditions every single day. Nurses are humans too. The sorrow of watching a patient they have cared for pass away is saddening. And the joy of watching a newborn come to the world can elicit the feeling that is the complete opposite to the former. All this can take place in a single shift. However, nurses are expected to have high emotional stability to ensure that their emotions regarding one person do not affect their service to others.
3. Hardworking
Nurses can never completely be sure of what their shift will look like. The course of the shift is always uncertain. There may be a possibility of a huge influx of patients one day and none the other. However, a hardworking nurse will not face problems regardless of the circumstances. Nurses usually have to perform long shifts to handle incoming emergencies. They also have to cater to different ailments in a matter of minutes. A multitasking and hardworking nurse will face no problem dealing with prolonged shifts.
4. Good Communication Skills
Great communication is also an essential part of nurses’ jobs. Nurses are required to communicate with numerous kinds of people. These include other nurses, practitioners, patients, and their families. Because their job is to save lives, the slightest form of miscommunication can have great costs. While changing shifts, nurses must communicate all details to the next nurse. Any kind of missing information may lead to negligence. If this happens, the patient may feel misinformed.
Providing information and understanding information that is not in medical terms can be demanding for nurses. Using layman language to explain critical scenarios is a skill a nurse should master. To eradicate any medical errors, great communication skills are a must-have.
5. Problem-Solving Skills
While problems solving skills can be learned on the job, they are sometimes innate. Some nurses have the inborn trait to handle situations that require quick decision-making. Several small decisions about treatments are made by the nurses. Improper problems solving skills would lead to incorrect decisions that can have detrimental effects on patients’ health.
6. Good Memory
This quality is not just important during a nurse’s time as a student but also after they have graduated. Nurses have to deal with several patients at one time. In their care are patients with different illnesses. A nurse must remember the details of each case separately. This is important while administering medicine, doing a routine checkup, and handing over the information to the next nurse and the doctor. A great memory also helps them build lifelong relationships with patients. Remembering people’s medical history and the treatment they had been given is a quality that can take a nurse to new heights in this career.
7. Kindness
Nurses have to deal with people who are suffering through testing times. A great nurse would treat all patients with kindness. Understanding their situation is an essential part of the job. All patients must feel at ease and be confident in the nurse’s ability to care for them after their interaction with the nurse. This role expects nurses to be strong and kind at the same time. Both qualities should be in complete balance.
To conclude, it is safe to say that an occupation like nursing is challenging and demanding. From the beginning of academics until the end of their career, nurses are supposed to work their fingers to the bone. The best nurse is an amalgamation of all the qualities described above, the one who can find the utmost balance between these qualities. Undoubtedly, this occupation is made for those who give property to serve humanity. Their actions are where their heart is. Without a sense of purpose, it is difficult for a nurse to excel in this field.
