10 Skills You Need to Become an Exceptional Nurse

Nursing is both a rewarding and profitable career in the UK. However, it’s equal parts challenging. There are some obvious skills students can learn at their institutes, but there are some not-so-obvious ones, too. Today, our nursing assignment writers will take a deep dive into the latter type and explain how these will make you a sought-after professional in your nursing career.

So, let’s get started with the list:

1. Decisiveness

This will be the most important skill in your talent belt as a nurse. No matter how much theory you study, it’s not going to help you if you’re unsure of what to do in situations. In this field, it’s important to be able to make decisions on the go. You’ll need to trust your education and your instinct. Overthinking and worries will be detrimental to your career. So, make sure you build your confidence through your academic journey.

Sure, you will make mistakes in the beginning, but it’s important to learn from them and move ahead stronger. However, if you let them hold you back, all your training won’t help you become a good nurse.

So, face your fears as early as you can and build the skill of confidence and assertiveness that sets apart an exceptional nurse from everyone else.

2. Mental and Emotional Strength

Working with people in pain takes a lot of grit. You need to be mentally strong to make tough decisions and emotionally strong to keep cool no matter what. Taking care of panicky patients and appeasing their concerned families can be tiring and frustrating. Even so, you’ll need to prioritise providing healthcare to them before coping with your own emotions. Remaining calm in such times is essential and defines your strength as a halkalı escort nurse.

Moreover, professionals in this field can get attached to some patients, which takes a toll on them when a worst-case scenario like a death occurs. So, make sure you prepare yourself to handle the worst. Practise meditation, and get as much practical experience as you can get to familiarise yourself with the environment. These practices will help you get into the mindset and build your emotional and mental strength.

3. Ability to Use Fear as an Advantage

Most newly graduated nurses in the UK start their work at the NHS. This is like being dropped into a sea storm after swimming lessons. The job is extremely tough and can take a toll on you.

Moreover, exhaustion can lead to medical errors. And because this goes against the nature of the job, many nurses spiral down into stress and anxiety after making a mistake—no matter how small it may be.

While this fear can become debilitating, it can also act as fuel and forge you into an excellent nurse. It could force you to remain on your toes, so you can always be vigilant when caring for patients. As a nursing student, you will have heaps of fear already—not being able to learn enough in the time you have, making mistakes during your clinicals, etc. Try to learn to channel your fears and use them positively. It will help you later in your career.

4. Communication Skills

Nurses need to be able to communicate with many people and teams around the hospital. And each will have their own level of medical knowledge. Consequently, nurses have to adapt to corresponding to that level quickly. For example, patients and their families may not be familiar with the due processes, so it’s important to relay the information to them in a kind and non-condescending manner while also being crystal clear. On the other hand, doctors may only need quick updates, and high-level jargon would work fine with them.

The best nurses are those with great communication skills. Those who can comfort patients while making sure they provide the best care. So, start putting your communication skills to the test today.

5. Genuine Thirst for Knowledge

Nursing schools in the UK have incredibly high standards, which is amazing. However, the healthcare industry is ever-evolving, with new treatments, equipment, and medicines being rolled out to help provide better services. Therefore, the school will not be the only learning ground for nurses.

If you have a genuine thirst for knowledge and keep looking forward to learning as much as possible to take care of patients in the best way possible, you are on your way to becoming an exceptional nurse. Don’t let this fire die down. It will help you during the toughest times of your career. And remember, as long as you continue to learn, you will be able to play the role of a great nurse without too much trouble.

6. Proactiveness

Nurses need to take care of multiple patients at once. They are the ones who ensure the little details are taken care of and are often the ones who help doctors navigate correctly through a patient’s health and progress. To be great at this, you must be proactive. Instead of waiting to get things done:

• Ask questions early on
• Make decisions quickly
• Get everything ready so that the doctors have an easier time treating people

Moreover, sometimes, a patient’s condition may worsen with time if certain measures are not taken. This is where an excellent nurse would be undertaking all due measures to ensure the person in question receives care on time, without declining health.

Our nursing assignment writers suggest you make it a routine always to ask detailed questions, listen closely, and observe the patient carefully. This will allow you to get into the habit of being proactive without thinking too much about it.

7. Physical Stamina

This may not be commonly known, but nursing demands great physical stamina. You may need to:

• Stand and attend surgeries for long hours
• Run around from one end of the hospital to another for emergencies
• Walk to each patient to check up on them

Doing this every day is tough, and you must be physically strong to handle the legwork.

Now, this doesn’t mean you should start exercising like crazy right away. It just means you should slowly and steadily build enough stamina so you can get through the toughest days without exhausting yourself and breaking down. Oh, and a few pairs of comfortable shoes will help, too!

8. Balance between Empathy and Emotional Distance

Nurses need to walk a thin line between empathy and emotional vulnerability. An excess of either is disastrous. Too much empathy and emotional attachment can take an emotional toll and prevent an objective view. On the other hand, too much emotional distance could make you seem robotic and insensitive to the patient or their families.

As a nursing student, it is important to learn when to express thoughtfulness and where to rein in your emotional responses.

And if you have trouble practising empathy when delivering care, this handy acronym from VitalTalk can help you:

• N: Name the patient’s emotion
• U: Understand this emotion
• R: Respect the patient
• S: Support the patient
• E: Explore and ask questions

9. Ability to Prioritise

One of the first things military nurses are taught is to prioritise patients in descending order of their well-being. The most critical should be treated first and quickly; the rest come later. While this makes sense in critical conditions, it’s also a helpful tactic in hospitals. Nurses are always on the run, taking care of one patient after the other. Therefore, it can be exhausting to treat so many people if you don’t have a plan.

You should learn to start your day by prioritising which patients to check on first. Consider certain factors when listing the patients in order of priority, such as the urgency and the time you need to devote to them. This way, you will be able to organise your day without much hassle. Of course, there will be exceptions during emergencies, but this just means you’d need to reschedule things on the go. And maybe ask for help, which brings us to the final point in this post.

if you need to learn more about nursing skills, read this article how to choose the best nursing topic.

10. Teamwork and Delegation

Nursing is a team job with your members are spread all around the hospital. You have to coordinate with various medical professionals and fellow nurses throughout your day. So, if you only work alone, you won’t get far in this career. However, if you think you’re a part of a larger team, you’ll progress that much faster!

Another major skill closely related to teamwork is delegation. Since nurses have to run around so much and take care of emergencies, they have to delegate tasks to others. It can be tough for you to let someone else work on your behalf if you are a perfectionist, but remember, this is crucial. No matter how good a nurse you are, you can’t be at two places at once. So, unless you don’t want a task to be done at all, think about delegating it to another capable medical professional.

And if you would like to delegate some tasks to academic professionals, you can rely on the experts in the industry.