Nursing is a noble and demanding profession that requires that individuals possess unique skills and qualities to have a successful career. A nurse is typically a person who is passionate about caring for people in need. Nurses play many diverse vital roles and assume different responsibilities in the healthcare system, providing direct patient care, advocating for patients’ needs and contributing to the overall wellbeing of individuals, families and communities. Nurses work in hospitals, clinics, primary health centers and many other sectors, including dedicated medical care teams, during crises or disasters.
This article explores the key skills and qualities needed to be a successful nurse and to deliver quality healthcare. By understanding these essential nursing attributes, aspiring nurses can determine whether they want to enter the profession or not. They can better prepare themselves for the challenges and rewards of this profession.
Nursing skills vs. qualities
The difference between a skill and a quality is sometimes confusing, and a nursing requirement may fall on either side. Simply put, a skill can typically be learned and developed through education and training, while qualities are inherent traits or characteristics of an individual, although they can often be enhanced through experience, growth and training. Both skills and qualities are essential for a nurse to provide competent, compassionate and patient-centered nursing care.
Key skills needed to become a nurse
A nurse or an individual aspiring to become a nurse and take up the nursing profession as a career needs many skills to become successful. Some key skills required for a successful nursing career include:
Nursing skills
Nursing skills are acquired through education, training and practical experience, and are honed with experience. All essential nursing skills that are required to provide quality nursing care are taught as part of a nursing educational program. Aspiring nurses may want to consider an ABSN online degree from a reputable institution such as Wilkes University to master the necessary nursing skills. Enrolling in a program such as this one helps students to become skilled in providing care in a variety of workplace settings. With online coursework, this program also includes an on-campus residency as well as clinical placements in your local community.
Clinical skills
Nurses regularly assist doctors in performing medical procedures by administering medications and interpreting vital signs accurately while working in hospitals and clinics. Proficiency in the required knowledge for these clinical services is a skill required for nursing. Nurses can acquire competence in clinical skills through the clinical placements that form part of their educational qualifications.
Communication skills
Effective verbal and non-verbal communication to understand patients’ needs and concerns and convey information clearly is vital for nurses as their job requires them to continuously communicate with patients, peers, staff and doctors. They must gather information from patients and family members, clearly convey treatment plans, build rapport and provide education, and collaborate with staff, healthcare teams and doctors.
Effective communication skills include observing, listening, speaking, written messages, emails, hand gestures and facial expressions. Nurses need clear communication skills to deliver instructions, educate patients about their conditions and provide emotional support. Nurses must possess exceptional verbal and non-verbal communication skills to minimize errors, ensure patient safety and promote positive patient experiences.
In addition, active listening skills are essential for nurses to ensure they understand patient concerns, identify their needs and address any anxieties they may have. Strong communication skills also facilitate effective teamwork, ensuring smooth coordination among healthcare professionals.
Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
Nurses must routinely record patient data, evaluate their condition, identify risks and make informed decisions. To do all these tasks, nurses need critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills, which help in making the right decisions for tasks nurses face each day. The use of critical thinking helps nurses to make decisions based on complex situations. Critical thinking skills require keen observation, good communication and experience to transform decisions into action.
Nurses often encounter complex and dynamic situations, and to resolve these, they require critical thinking and problem-solving skills. They must be able to assess patients’ conditions, identify potential risks and make quick decisions to ensure patient safety. Critical thinking enables nurses to analyze data, interpret symptoms and anticipate complications, facilitating timely interventions and appropriate care. Problem-solving skills allow nurses to adapt to challenging situations, prioritize tasks and collaborate with other healthcare professionals to develop optimal care plans.
Time management and organizational skills
Nurses are responsible for managing multiple tasks for multiple patients simultaneously while ensuring accurate documentation, assessing patients’ conditions, assisting doctors, administering treatments and monitoring their progress. To perform all these tasks, nurses must possess strong time management and organizational skills to prioritize tasks, make schedules, manage time efficiently and handle emergencies effectively. These skills help nurses efficiently coordinate the patient’s care to ensure a smooth workflow for their daily routine work.
Observation skills
Attention to detail and the patient’s condition are crucial in nursing. With keen observation skills, nurses can notice minute changes in a patient’s condition and maintain accurate documentation. The importance of accuracy in patient assessment and documentation affects the doctors’ practices and correct diagnosis of patients and prescribing treatment plans. By maintaining accurate records of a patient’s condition and keeping workstations organized, nurses contribute to the overall safety and quality of patient care.
Observation skills increase accuracy in conducting thorough patient examinations and assessments, administering medications precisely and adhering to protocols while ensuring patient satisfaction through meticulous documentation and observation.
Technical skills
Advancing technology has revolutionized medical diagnosis and treatments for faster and better patient services. Nurses must have proficiency in using medical equipment and technology relevant to nursing practice. With more and more technology being used within medical science, nurses must continue embracing advancements in technology.
Computer skills
Digital technology advances have revolutionized the medical field in more than one way. The impact of digital technology is evident in diagnosis, imaging, treatment, surgery and monitoring, among other areas. Almost all medical equipment features digital support for operating, controlling, computing, recording, communicating and sharing data. Nurses need computer skills to use computer-controlled digital health equipment to maintain patient records, for diagnosis, for live monitoring of vitals, recording treatment and recovery and for communication.
Qualities needed to become a nurse
In addition to the above skills, an individual must possess certain qualities to succeed in their career in nursing. Nurses are expected to have the abilities and strengths to help, take and guide initiatives, oversee nursing processes, direct nurses and other staff, and manage teams and patients. Some key qualities and attitudes for becoming a confident and authoritative nursing professional include:
Compassion and empathy
Compassion and empathy are at the core of nursing practice. Nurses must genuinely care for the wellbeing of their patients, demonstrate empathy and understanding for their experiences and establish a compassionate connection. Compassion allows nurses to provide emotional support and comfort, creating a therapeutic environment that enhances healing and recovery. Empathy enables nurses to communicate effectively, assess patient needs and provide patient-centered care, ultimately promoting trust and collaboration between patients and healthcare providers.
Integrity and ethics
Nurses need to have high integrity and strong moral principles and must be honest and fair to everyone. Integrity also implies honesty, confidence, trustworthiness and dependability. Nurses’ integrity benefits them in making the right choices in critical situations and treatment plans. This integrity also inspires others to do the same. Nurse leaders with integrity are committed to offering the best healthcare services to patients, their families and society. Upholding professional standards, transparency, respecting patients’ confidentiality and privacy and acting with honesty and accountability make a successful nursing professional.
Nurses are also expected to follow the basic ethical principles of benevolence, nonmaleficence, fidelity, accountability, veracity and patient autonomy, as spelled out by nursing profession regulators. Ethical nurses provide support and listen to the concerns of patients, families and their communities. Demonstrating high dedication and commitment to patient care, maintaining a positive attitude and professional demeanor and being punctual, reliable and accountable in all nursing responsibilities are also qualities related to professionalism and a strong work ethic.
Leadership
Leadership qualities are necessary for all nurses, not just those in leadership positions. To be successful in the nursing profession, every nurse, whether working as a nursing team member, a clinical nurse or a nursing administrator, must have or develop leadership qualities to successfully carry out nursing care. Leadership qualities help nurses take the initiative in complex situations or emergencies, communicate effectively and motivate others in a team setting.
Accountability
Nurses should always be responsible for their actions and accept the consequences, good or bad, of those actions. Accountability in nursing helps develop a culture of support, trust and dedication, which leads to excellent patient care. A nurse who is accountable helps reduce fear, increase trust and improve relationships with patients and co-workers, juniors and organizations.
Emotional intelligence
Emotional intelligence for nurses is important to both their own and team members’ wellness and psychological health. In healthcare systems, nurses need emotional intelligence to cope with the stresses they face during routine challenges. The absence of emotional intelligence can result in emotional exhaustion, poor performance and poor team collaboration.
Dedication
Nurses are dedicated and committed to their profession, which must be demonstrated through their perseverance in caregiving settings. Dedication is demonstrated by integrity, loyalty and passion to the profession, while emotional skills contribute to the dedication and devotion to their profession.
Resilience and adaptability
Nursing is an emotionally and physically demanding profession, requiring nurses to demonstrate resilience and adaptability. They often face challenging situations, witness suffering and experience high stress levels. Resilience allows nurses to bounce back from adversity, cope with stress and maintain emotional wellbeing. Adaptability is essential in a rapidly changing healthcare environment, enabling nurses to embrace new technologies, protocols and evidence-based practices while delivering high-quality care.
Mentorship
Mentorship is part of nurses’ duty to support their team members and others by sharing their knowledge and experience to help them learn and achieve goals. Good mentorship qualities show that nurses are confident about their abilities and help them build trust with team members.
Professionalism
A successful nurse should exhibit professionalism, which involves clear communication and accountability with patients and their caretakers, as well as within nursing teams, and makes the work environment more positive and friendly. Professionalism promotes better patient care and higher patient satisfaction.
Respect for others
Nurses must not disrespect others even if they do not agree with their opinions or views. Respect for others includes showing courtesy and kindness, being polite and avoiding favoritism and discrimination based on background, ethnicity, social status or any other factor. Nurses must practice respect for others, which should effectively reduce workplace tensions and conflicts and lead to increased respect from patients, superiors, peers and teams.
Cultural sensitivity
Nurses should practice cultural sensitivity, which includes understanding and respect for diverse patient backgrounds, social customs, cultural beliefs and other sensitive matters. To meet cultural and individual needs, one must adapt care approaches, avoid bias and promote inclusivity in healthcare practices.
Lifelong learning and professional development
To succeed in the nursing profession, staying updated with current medical knowledge advancements and practices is very important. This requires that an individual have the qualities and urge to engage in lifelong learning and professional development. Pursuing continuous education and training opportunities and participating in professional organizations and networks for growth and knowledge gain is essential.
Conclusion
Being a nurse is a rewarding but demanding profession that requires a diverse range of skills and qualities. Compassion and empathy lay the foundation for establishing meaningful connections with patients, while excellent communication skills ensure effective collaboration and patient-centered care. Critical thinking and problem-solving abilities enable nurses to make sound decisions and anticipate complications, while attention to detail and strong organizational skills contribute to patient safety and efficient workflow. Finally, resilience and adaptability help nurses navigate the challenges of their profession while maintaining their wellbeing. By embodying these skills and qualities, nurses can provide exceptional care, positively impact patients’ lives and improve healthcare.
