Nurses are known for being some of the most important healthcare professionals around the world. If you want to become a nurse, you will be working in a career where you’re responsible for managing your patients and their daily schedules, and providing care in a wide variety of ways including administering treatment to patients alongside doctors and other healthcare professionals. Nurses are often the first point of contact for patients when it comes to acting as a mediator between patients and doctors, providing support and advice, and being there for family members. To be a successful nurse, it’s important to develop the following skills. 

Empathy

The ability to empathize and put yourself in the shoes of your patients is perhaps one of the most important skills that you will need to develop as a nurse. You will be working directly with people who may be going through one of the worst times in their lives, and being able to imagine how they must be feeling and validate these feelings can make all the difference. 

Organizational Skills

The best nurses are often very organized people. The world of nursing is busy and fast-paced, and to succeed, it’s important that you are able to organize your large workload and make sure that you are able to get everything done. The ability to be highly organized, even under pressure, is a key skill for nurses since the health of their patients relies heavily on them being organized and in control. Along with being organized, nurses must also have the skill of being able to organize themselves in a flexible way. After all, you never know when an emergency is going to occur and you’re going to have to rethink your schedule quickly and effectively. ASBN programs are a great way to improve your organizational and flexibility skills while getting your nursing degree in a shorter timeframe than is typical. Check this list of ABSN programs if this sounds suited to you.

Communication

Nurses spend the majority of their day communicating with others, whether that’s with patients, family members, or other nurses and healthcare professionals. Because of the sheer amount of information that nurses will need to take in on a daily basis, strong communication and listening skills are absolutely vital to success in this career. Active listening skills are vital to ensure that nurses are able to clearly understand what their patients are telling them and respond accordingly. And, strong communication skills are essential to success when it comes to sharing information with the medical team and collaborating with other professionals to deliver the highest standard of patient care. There is no room for miscommunication when it comes to nursing; even the smallest mistake could have disastrous results for a patient. 

Quick Thinking

Nursing is an ideal choice of career for those who want something fast-paced and exciting. But in order to be able to thrive as a nurse in this environment where no two days are the same and an emergency can happen at any moment, it’s important to be highly skilled at thinking on your feet. Nurses will often find themselves in situations where they have to make the best decision in a very short timeframe and being able to think critically, keep their cool, and make the best decisions under pressure is key to success. Critical and quick-thinking skills come in handy in a huge range of situations in nursing, whether dealing with patients, family members, or colleagues. 

Adaptability

The healthcare industry is constantly changing. If you think back to how healthcare was just a few decades ago, you can see the large strides that it has been taking, especially when it comes to technology. And these advancements are not slowing down. As a nurse, you will need to be somebody who can quickly adapt to new situations, techniques, technologies, and everything in between. Chances are that the healthcare industry is going to look very different in the near future, and nurses need to be ready to adapt and keep up. 

Attention to Detail

When it comes to nursing, being meticulous can be one of the most important skills you will ever develop. Measuring medications, administering treatment to patients, and keeping good patient records tend to be tasks that fall on nurses, and it’s crucial that nurses are able to fully focus on the task at hand and make sure that every little detail is right. Even the smallest errors in nursing can lead to a catastrophe for patients; the best nurses know that there should be absolutely no room for mistakes. 

Ability to Stay Calm Under Pressure

Nursing is a very high-pressured job that often requires you to work long hours on your feet. You are dealing with people who might be scared, upset, or even irritable and angry due to the situation that they are in. Nurses often find themselves in scary situations where they are dealing with a patient in a health emergency, and it’s important that they are able to remain patient and calm throughout the process. 

A Sense of Responsibility

The best nurses are very aware of just what they are responsible for in their career, and often have a strong sense of responsibility and commitment to their field of work. A successful nurse is somebody who holds themselves to very high standards and keeps themselves accountable, whether that’s by following ethical standards to the letter, never being too ashamed to ask for help or advice when they need it, or simply making sure that everything they do is done with integrity. 

Strength

Finally, in order to be a successful nurse, you’ll need to work on building your own strength – both physically and psychologically. Mental strength is important to ensure that nurses have what it takes to stay calm and be a support network for their patients in high-pressure situations; looking after yourself to ensure that you are up for coping with the pressure of the job is key. Nurses also need to stay physically strong to ensure that they can handle a job that often requires a lot of physical work and heavy lifting. 

The healthcare industry would not be what it is without nurses. If you want to be a good nurse, these are just some of the key qualities required to succeed in this career.