Nursing is one of the most prestigious careers in the healthcare sector. As a nurse, you are the backbone of a successful healthcare institute. The skills you possess and the clinical understanding you hold are vital in assisting doctors in doing their job. It is why you need the necessary skill set to be an asset to your patients. However, to become resourceful at your job, you need to have a steady combination of soft skills and a good grasp of clinical understanding.
As a nurse, you are working with patients and helping other medical professionals with their tasks. You may need to learn how to take control of a situation, communicate effectively, and have the ability to analyze a situation to care for patients critically. If you wish to improve your position as a nurse, here’s what you need to do:
- Enhance Your Educational Qualification
There are many ways to become a nurse. You can start your career as a registered nurse or obtain a bachelor’s before applying for a nursing position. But no matter how you begin, you must build your career and continue advancing your education. Your degree opens more doors for you and allows you to apply for higher positions. For instance, if you successfully work your way to a terminal degree and become a nurse practitioner, you can independently practice as a specialized nurse and work with patients one on one without the need for a doctor supervising.
So, if you are relatively new to nursing and hold an associate degree in nursing, fast-track your career by applying for an adn to bsn degree and boost your position. As an associate nurse, you may be highly restricted from gathering a patient’s medical history to preparing them for a checkup. But by obtaining a bachelor’s degree, you can actively assist doctors by documenting a patient’s journey and administering medication, and you may also get included in the decision-making process.
- Know How To Transport Patients Safely
While caring for a patient, it is your responsibility to help them move around the hospital and safely move from one department to the next. When a patient comes in for a checkup, you must carefully assess their condition and make a judgment call. It includes deciding if the patient can sit upright or do you need to get them to lie down. If you are using a wheelchair, there are specific protocols to follow. First, you need to know how to lock a wheelchair and never park it in a diagonal area with a high chance of rolling it down.
The second phase of transporting patients is shifting them from one device to another. As the patient moves to sit on their medical aid, help them into the seat, ensure they’re comfortable, check that their body is safely in place, and then move. If you are working with patients with crutches, guide them on how to use this device and prevent slipping and falling. The same holds if you need to move the patient around while they are in the hospital bed.
For instance, if you need to lift a patient from a wheelchair and put them in their car or move them to the hospital bed, you need to know how you can manage. You will need to account for the patient’s weight, condition, and if their mobility is restrictive before you can shift them. You should have more than one nurse to assist you, so you don’t end up dropping them or hurting yourself. Moving a patient is about knowing the right angles, posture, and lifting technique. Once you can figure that out, you will have no trouble moving them.
- Get Better At Communicating
Communication is the crux of a successful healthcare enterprise. You must exchange information with your peers and the healthcare staff to produce results. You must know how to talk, ask questions, and build research to achieve successful patient outcomes. As a nurse, you need how to communicate with your patients and your peers.
While talking to a patient, you must know their language, use easy terms they can understand, and never bombard them with questions. If you don’t speak their native tongue, ask a proficient nurse to help you or use a translator application to pick up your patient’s voice. There will be instances when a patient may not want to cooperate with you. This is because they may feel sick or may be experiencing side effects that are agitating them. This can make them angry, agitated, and also restless. In such cases, you need to assess your patient’s condition, see how you can alleviate their situation, and discuss their ailment with them when they feel better.
- Pay Attention To the Details
You can’t afford to make mistakes on the job. Medical negligence can endanger your patient’s life and get you sued. So when you are documenting a patient’s journey, make sure you are writing the details accurately, not using terms interchangeably, and have organized notes. As you examine a patient, observe their condition, make notes of what you can see and what their vital charts say, and record accordingly. If you need to ask your patient more questions, make sure you do that. Certain diseases have similar symptoms, and the only way you can have an accurate diagnosis is by asking plenty of questions, picking up subtle changes in the patient’s condition, and updating the EHR as you work on them.
Final Thoughts
Nursing is a prestigious yet challenging career in the healthcare sector. Make sure you continue pursuing the relevant qualification necessary to advance in your career and never stop learning. To be a successful nurse, you must work on yourself to stand out among professionals. To do this, you need to focus your energy on the soft and technical skills you possess. Similarly, train yourself to become an expert in shifting and moving patients around the hospital without hurting them. Additionally, become a skilled speaker and expert in communicating with your peers and patients. Finally, teach yourself to be more attentive when consulting a patient; every observation you make is necessary for an accurate diagnosis.