One of the noblest professions in the world today is that of nursing.
Nurses are selfless and compassionate individuals, dedicated to caring for others and helping them to heal on a physical, emotional, and spiritual level.
Nursing is an extremely important profession that can offer happiness and fulfillment to those who practice it with compassion, empathy, understanding, and integrity.
What Does Being a Nurse Entail?
Being a nurse entails many different roles, responsibilities, and tasks.
From working as an RN in hospitals to working in a nursing home or private company as an RN, from being a CNM (Certified Nurse Midwife) wherein the nurse delivers babies or an LPN or LVN (Licensed Practical Nurse) who aids in providing healthcare for patients to assisting patients who are being rehabilitated and healing or recovering from surgery or trauma, nurses play a critical role in helping the sick and the injured.
They are there for them when they are most vulnerable.
What Skills Do You Need to Succeed as a Nurse?
The role of a nurse is really varied and incredibly diverse. There’s no doubt that getting a good education by doing courses like Baylor University’s distance ABSN program will serve you well, but to be a successful nurse, there are a number of soft skills you will need to get.
If you’re wondering if you’re cut out to be a nurse, consider if you have the following soft skills.
You Have a Passion For Helping Others
Nurses inevitably need to be good at helping others, and they get that from the fact that they care about helping others.
If you’re an RN, that means knowing how to care for patients or having the ability to show compassion and empathy in certain situations.
As an LPN or LVN, it means being able to understand what your patients are trying to tell you about their conditions and ailments.
You Believe In Yourself
Nurses need to believe in themselves from the start.
Nurses often dedicate their entire lives to helping others, so if you’re going to make a career out of it, you have to believe that you can do it.
If you don’t have belief in yourself, no one else will.
You Have The Willingness To Learn New Things and Take on New Challenges
Nurses are not bound by rules or regulations — that’s why they need to be ready for anything that comes their way.
That means learning how to adapt to new challenges and situations.
You also need to be ready to learn as much as you can about a certain medical situation.
You’re Willing To Accept Criticism
Nurses work with people, which means they need to be able to accept criticism when it comes. They need to know that not everyone will love them, and that’s okay as long as they do their job correctly.
Accepting criticism isn’t fun. There’s no denying that, but being a nurse requires it. Some patients will hate you, some family members won’t necessarily like you, and some doctors might not appreciate your work.
You’re Willing To Take Responsibilities and Own Your Mistakes
As a nurse of any kind, you’re going to be in charge of a lot of different tasks.
Some will go perfectly fine. Some will not.
It’s important for nurses to be able to accept the responsibilities that come with their job and own up to their mistakes knowingly so they can fix them and prevent them from happening again in the future.
You Can Handle Emotional Stress
Being one of the people who are left with grave responsibilities when someone close passes away is never easy.
To be a nurse, you need to be able to handle emotional stress effectively and calmly.
You’re Selfless
Being able to think of others and their needs before your own is essential for being a nurse.
It’s just not fair that your employer should be taking care of other people when you’re off work with personal issues.
You Have the Ability to Connect With Others
In order to be a successful nurse, you need to know how to connect with others and get them on board with your plans.
It’s not enough to just make things happen. You have to convince people that what you’re doing is worthwhile so they’ll trust your judgment and help out where they can.
You’re Confident
Confidence is an essential trait for any nurse, and it’s the one that matters more than any other.
You really have to feel good about yourself as a nurse, or else you wouldn’t be able to feel good about helping others.
You don’t also have to be overly confident, but you need to know that you’re worth something and that your abilities are valuable.
You’re a Team Player
Being a nurse means taking care of other people and being there for them through thick and thin.
If you can’t work as a team player, it’s not going to work out. You’re going to have to be able to compromise and compromise your own needs while still serving the needs of others.
You’re a Good Listener
Good listening skills are essential for nurses because they need to know how their patients feel about what they’re doing, how they think their conditions are progressing, and if they have any questions that need addressing.
Nursing: The Job Of Many Skills
To be a successful nurse means having a wide variety of skills in order to be ready for anything. You need to have a good set of soft skills that will help you do your job effectively.
If you’re lacking in any of the skills mentioned above, you might want to look into getting some training and learning whatever it is that’s lacking from your skillset.
Your patients are depending on you to get it right, so put your best foot forward and don’t disappoint.
The main thing you need to have to b a good nurse is resilience and determination. Having both resilience and determination will allow you to work to the best of your abilities.