Nursing is a field that demands much of those who pursue it. Long hours and the strain of working with ill and stressed people on a daily basis can make it a very difficult challenge. If you are currently in the nursing field or are considering pursuing this career, here is a list of the top 10 traits every nurse should have/be:
- A Caring Nature:If a person cannot care about the people they are serving, they will not excel as a nurse. Nurses deal with the sick and injured and their families on a daily basis, and they need to be able to show them that they truly care about their situation.
- Be Empathetic:Nurses regularly deal with people who are scared and in pain. They must be able to put themselves in their patients’ shoes if they are going to give them the quality of care that a good nurse provides.
- Be Detail-Oriented: Nurses must remember to write everything they do on patients’ charts. They must also remember to bring medications at the correct times. Being an organized detail-oriented person is therefore crucial for someone in this career field.
- Be Emotionally Stable:Nurses feel the joy of seeing a new baby born, followed by the pain of losing a long-term patient who had become a friend. Emotional stability is crucial in order to survive the roller coaster ride of emotions nurses must endure on a daily basis.
- Be Adaptable: No day is quite like the next when you work as a nurse, so they need to be able to adapt to circumstances. People are unpredictable at the best of times, but under stress become even more unpredictable, so a nurse’s typical workday will require flexibility and adaptability.
- Have Physical Endurance:Breaks for nurses are few and far between. They are on their feet all day, sometimes for 12 or more hours at a time, so nurses must have good physical endurance to succeed in nursing.
- Be a Quick Thinker: When a nurse notices something is not right with a patient, they need to be able to make decisions quickly and put their plans into action instantly. Nursing is not the career for someone who needs time to think about a situation before responding, because even a fraction of a second can mean the difference between life and death.
- Have Great Judgement:A nurse must be able to look at a patient’s current state and accurately assess what is or is not needed. This must happen quickly during emergencies. Nurses therefore need sound judgment and maturity.
- Be Hard-Working:Nursing is a never ending job. Someone is always ill and in need of some sort of aid or attention. Its also unusual for a hospital or medical centre to be overstaffed, which of course means more workload on each nurse in the unit. Being a hard worker is therefore a very important trait.
- Have Great Communication Skills:Nurses communicate with each other, doctors, patients, and patients’ families on a daily basis, so being able to communicate clearly and effectively, and to read people is necessary for people in this career
Conclusion: Nursing is a difficult career. There is no doubt about it. However, it can also be an extremely rewarding career given the right personality. Certainly, the more of the traits above you have as an individual, the more likely nursing is the career for you.
Are there any other traits you believe nurses should have?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Don’t forget:
11. Ability to absorb a lot of BS from doctors
12. Skilled at biting your tongue when patients bitch you out
13. Desire to stay at work late every day when inconsiderate co-workers show up late and management doesn’t seem to care
14. Understanding that pay is based on years of experience and NOT talent and hard work
Yikes Holly … sounds as though you’d had a difficult time and are frustrated. Have you been able to turn any of these situations around, and if so, how?
I’d also like to hear from others. What do you find the most frustrating part of the job, and how have you been able to rectify the situation, or what can you propose to help prevent the situation from occurring?
One of the most important things an RN has to be is: willing to be UNDERcompensated for doing all the things listed above.
Also, willing to be exploited by hospital management and health insurance companies.
4) Be Emotionally Stable: Nurses feel the joy of seeing a new baby born, followed by the pain of losing a long-term patient who had become a friend. Emotional stability is crucial in order to survive the roller coaster ride of emotions nurses must endure on a daily basis.
The idea is right, the statement is wrong. You should NEVER be “friends” with any patients, no matter how long you’ve been treating them.
Most important: HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR! And learn to let things slide off your back.
Wow…you guys are really making me WANT to get up at 4:30 tomorrow morning for my first 12 hour hospital clinical of nursing school.
Anna: Wow it can’t all be bad, can it? I can’t say every place I’ve worked has been ideal, but I’ve had some good experiences and met some great places along the way.
Courtney: Now that I look back at my post, I think you’re right. Attachments can form, but its best not to be friends with your patients.
JT: I agree about the sense of humor. It is a must!
Crystal: Hang in there! I have a good number of nurse friends and relatives that tell me they love being a nurse (but not always the hours!). How did your first 12 hour hospital clinical go?
I’m proud to be a nurse. I didn’t like med/surg nursing because it was impossible to be excellent, you can’t be an excellent nurse when you have too many patients.
I believe a floor nurse should round on every pt at least once every hour throughout the shift. That is rarely possible when you have too many patients. Being part of a patient care team is laughable. Discussing a plan of care with the pt, their family and the PCP is also rare. Discharge planning is often a joke too. Get them out, get the next one in, explain medications and follow-up appointments — sorry — no time.
I went to the ICU and now I am in my niche. If you don’t like the nursing you are doing move in to a different area. Hospice, endoscopy, OR, or refuse to take more patients. Nurses have to unite against nurse to patient ratios that are unsafe.
Go to a Magnet Hospital. I’ve worked in two, (as a traveler) what a difference! I don’t know what their profits look like, but, their patients are well taken care of and so are the nurses and ancillary staff. When I retire and face the possibility of becoming a patient, I plan to seek out a town and a PCP that work with a Magnet Hospital.
Make yourself so good that they want you more than you need them.
11. Be independently wealthy…as you will need it to pay for you own health insurance premium/copays/etc as you will be getting frequent colds/flus. And yes…you are just an employee….so you wont be getting a savings on your health insurance just because you help save lives….and provide excellent care to patients. You will be neglecting your own needs from here on out!!!!!!! Mandatory!
12. No it’s not unusual to pass a floor of meds on your own…your a big girl you can do it…and chart…and treatsments…and hold the dr by the hand as he/she enters the unit needing to know who their patients even are. (Yes I said FLOOR of patients)
13. Say good bye to your family…and put any needs they may have on hold…because going to your job to be able to provide the minimum for them is all you will be able to do. No there is no light at the end….it’s neglect the one’s you love so you can care for the one’s you dont even know. CRAZY SHIFTS MANDATION!!!!!!
14. Don’t plan on earning what you see on the billboards…those are for off shifts….irregular shifts….temporary assignments….and highly skilled/experienced nurses.
15. Dont disrespect those under you…they may just be the one that needs to do something for you one day!
16. keep the want ads around….cause they are always hiring…somewhere! (I wonder why that is?)
17.Be able to stand longer than you ever thought imaginable while needing to pee….and…..your own blood sugar is dropping because your didnt have time to eat….again.
i agree with that Top 10 Traits that Nurse Should Have. i think that is very important. and i think all nurses out there should read this post for them to be aware what the right thing to do. it will be a big help. thanks for this.
In other words be superhman! Be able to cope with demanding patients who have abused their bodies for years. Be able to placate immature physicians who lack commnication skills themselves. How about droid Nurses?