Tag: Nurses

What Does it Take to Become a Good Nurse?

Woma getting flu shot
Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Where would we be without nurses? They tend to us when the doctor is not around, help us when we need it, and come to our homes when we have an elderly family member who needs a nurse’s touch.

The compassion and determination with which a good nurse performs his/ her duties are important for maintaining the proficiency of the healthcare system. But, what are the qualities that make nurses such an important part factor?

Here we list down some essential qualities that you should have if you are considering a career in nursing. If you are confused about whether you should pursue a nursing career or not, have a look at the following list and see if you have what it takes to become a nurse.

Be Empathetic 

Being compassionate is of the utmost importance in nursing. Since there are chances that a nurse may become indifferent to a patient’s problem, it is important that you maintain an appreciative nature as to what your job tasks are and why you are qualified to assist those who need assistance.

Communication Skills

Nurse attending to patient
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

While having effective communication skills is important in various careers, it is critical in the nursing profession. A good nurse should be able to communicate well with all of his/ her patients and their families.

This includes both listening to their issues and providing them guidance and support. Having effective communication with your patients and their families is also important to make sure they clearly understand your instructions regarding the medications and lifestyle changes necessary for their health, so make it a point to be a good listener!

Flexibility

Nurses don’t always have fixed schedules. Emergencies and many other situations demand them to provide their services at different times and at various positions. So, being flexible and having the ability to adjust to varying challenges to deal with a variety of responsibilities are important qualities for becoming a great nurse.

Patience

Dementia PatientPatients can be irritating and finicky at times, especially the elderly. To deal with such situations, you need to have the patience (pun intended) to adapt to the patient’s tempers and not explode.

It is important to deal with the patient’s family professionally and to carry out the doctor’s orders effectively,  making sure the patient follows the doctor’s instructions. According to research, around 60% of patients in the U.S. do not follow their doctor’s instructions; therefore, nurses need to be very tolerant while dealing with such patients and to make them understand why following doctor’s orders is critical for their health.

Dealing with Emotions Properly

Long working hours, emergencies, and assisting patients and their families can no doubt be a daunting task but hang in there. While it is important that a nurse remain empathetic to his/ her patients, getting too much affected by the patient’s suffering could negatively impact a nurse’s performance. Therefore, nurses need to be emotionally strong at all times and not fall into the trap of you becoming the patient and the nurse.

Decision Making

We saved the best for last! Being able to make professional, sometimes quick decisions can mean the difference between life and death. If you happen to come across such a situation, always maintain composure. Do not allow yourself to get overwhelmed. Take some deep breaths and think before you act. Similar to a mother putting the oxygen mask on her child first before she puts hers on in an airplane emergency, you must do the same, only in thoughts, not action. Then once you have all your thoughts together on how to proceed, go for it!

 

 

Five Ways through Which Nurses Prevent Major Injuries

Nurse attending to patient
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

In one of our previous articles, we discussed the role of nurses in elder care facilities. Now let’s take a look at the role of nurses in general and how they employ their expertise towards helping their patients in a hospital setting, specifically, how to help patients when it comes to physical employment.

If you have ever tried lifting up a grown adult who is heavy who simply cannot move on their own, then you will understand how difficult it is to achieve this task without dropping the patient or falling yourself. There is a high chance of patients falling and probably suffering from a major injury, if not for the professional nurses handling the task like a pro.

So, what is it that these nurses do that makes them such an expert at handling the patients with care and moving them from one bed to another, without so much as a jostle felt by the patients? For starters, they use the following techniques:

Training

There is an art to all that lifting and repositioning that nurses have to master. It is important to get to know about the workings of all the equipment, how to lift the bed, how to change the setting slowly, how to prevent too much pressure on patient’s weak spots, and so on. It is only after they know every aspect of the equipment in question that they become confident of their skills are given the responsibility to handle the patients.

Give the Details

More often than not, it helps the patient’s relatives to know what is actually happening. In order to prepare the patients for the move or help them in repositioning, it helps greatly if they are given step-by-step details of everything. Most of the time, people expect much worse than it actually is, and then, of course, there is the fear of the unknown. Once the patients learn what is going to happen, they relax considerably which makes the whole process easier and quicker.

Stay Active and Strong

In order to perform these risky tasks, nurses actually have to stay fit themselves. For instance, nurses need to have good upper body strength to lift up patients who have more weight. They cannot afford the risk of their strength giving out at the last second, which might not only bring pain to the patient but might also result in the nurse suffering from an injury themselves.

Take Preventive Measures

Palliative Care for Seniors

Nurses are friendly with their patients so that they do not feel any hesitancy when asking for help. These nurses also make sure that there is no obstacle in the room or anything else that might trip the patient.

Frequent Rounds

Doctor talking to patient in a hospital
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash

A good nurse is one who doesn’t give any chance for their patients to press the nurse-calling button and do the tasks that could be achieved through their punctual hourly rounds. It has also been noted that the more frequent these rounds are, the fewer incidents there are of the patients falling. In many cases, patients feel like they are completely capable of getting off the bed themselves and end up falling. These visits by the nurses lower the frequency of such accidents.

Now that you know about the preventive measures and thoughtful considerations nurses implement to prevent people from falling and suffering from major injuries, you know what to expect when going through a similar experience.