Top 15 Nursing Skills to be best on the Job

Top 15 Nursing Skills to be best on the Job

Becoming the best nurse around is something everyone in the nursing career should strive for.

It will not only provide increased salary, bonuses, and other incentives, but also provide career fulfillment.

The “Thank Yous” and the smiles you get from your patients’ faces from your service to them will more than gladdens your heart that you are in the right profession of giving care to people who are suffering.

To be a good nurse, you need to develop a wide range of skills that will enable you to be effective carrying out nursing duties, which include: prevention of illness and injury, offering of advice to individuals, families, communities, pregnant women, and groups; and reduction of pain and health hazard through diagnosis and treatment.

15 Skills and Qualities to be an Effective Nurse

1. Good Communication Skills. Possession of strong communication skills can be a fundamental requirement in the nursing career.

You need to be an excellent communicator – meaning that it will help you in your career if you can listen and speak in approachable manners when communicating with patients and families.

2. Attention to details. It is good for nurses to pay attention to details when they are on duty, documenting all the information on the patients’ charts, listening attentively when they describe symptoms of their illness, and using the appropriate questions to determine the right time to render medications.

It is necessary to remember every small detail even when you are under chaos. This will help you to avoid making regrettable mistakes later.

3. Empathy. It is expedient for you as a nurse to show empathy when patients undergo pains, and bring comfort to the lamenting patient.

Patients see you as their advocate, so when you express much concern they tend to come to you for care and support in order to feel your sympathetic nature.

4. Flexibility. Michelle Katz encourages mental flexibility among nurses as this provides alternative ways of solving problems and making everyone happy especially when your patient is not complaining.

As a nurse, you need the ability to adapt to the busy schedule in order to keep up. Flexibility helps you to handle big tasks in a short period of time.

5. Quick Thinking Skills. There are various work situations that a nurse has to face. A nurse with quick thinking skills may be busy, but immediately he/she discovers a patient with a serious issue he/she should approach the patient to know what the situation is first before continuing with her duty, so that he/she may call the attention of a doctor as the case may demand.

This skill will enable the nurse to notice when a patient is in need and then find quick solution before it becomes too late.

6. Stress Management. Nursing job is so stressful that every registered nurse should learn how he/she can manage continuous mental and physical stress associated with the job.

This will help him/her to carry out their duties successfully. Sad situations could arise as a result of the patient being angry, frustrated, agonized or depressed.

Every nurse should understand this kind of circumstance and be able to remain quiet.

7. Organizational Skills. Nurses whose works are organized are more successful than the ones who don’t organize things.

Giving the patients the best care involves deciding what comes first and acting according to its importance. The diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment processes require some organizational skills.

8. Computer Skills. The knowledge of computer, tablets, and phones is an added advantage to the nursing profession.

This is a modern world and nurses should be able to navigate the electronic systems in the course of their duty.

Because of the daily storage of data associated with their work, nurses need some computer skills to be able to perform this task effectively. It is faster typing on the computer than writing with a pen.

9. Physical Endurance. Nursing job requires that nurses stand for long periods of time, perform physical tasks, and keep records.

The job requires some patience and the ability to endure some annoying situations, which may occur in the day-to-day interaction with patients or their families.

10. Ability to Answer Questions and Offer Good Advice. Nurses act as medium between the care team and patients.

They give advice to the patient who may need it, and answer questions when necessary. A good nurse is always ready to share their knowledge, skills, and experience with patients, their families and friends, and to carry the patient’s needs about until he/she is satisfied.

11. Attention to Detail. Paying attention to detail can help you avoid unnecessary mistakes in your nursing career. Every assignment has to be thoroughly handled for future accountability.

12. Good Initiative. Sometimes, the nurse is required to act upon emergency situations and deal with any difficulty associated with his/her job. He/she should be able to take his/her decisions when necessary.

13. Listening Ability. A nurse needs good listening skills in order to properly watch and examine a patient. This involves listening to orders issued by the doctor and paying attention to complaints and remarks of patients and their relatives.

14. Teamwork. Nurses should be able to notice the essentiality of teamwork as this helps hospitals and other medical facilities to work in alliance in order to render the best health care service to patients.

15. Respect. It is always important for nurses to respect patients’ dignity when they are sick or are worried about their ill state. When patients are anxious about or disturbed by what their situation might be, it is the duty of the nurse to recognize a situation like this and offer help.

Nursing Skills and Qualities for Resume

If you are writing a resume for a nursing position, you can apply the nurse skills and qualities provided above in making the core competence section of the resume.

With this section, you will be able to show to the recruiter that you have the skills and qualities required for the job.

Conclusion

If you are a nurse who wants to be best on your job, developing the skills and qualities highlighted above can help you achieve the goal.

Did you find the above skills and qualities useful in becoming a great nurse? Please make your comment in the box below; you can also include other qualities of a good nurse that you have found useful.