Consultants, physicians and nurses need technical abilities when it comes to delivering treatments, but the way that they communicate, their ability to manage stress, and their empathy with patients are also important. For new recruits and experienced healthcare workers, enhancing these soft skills is just as vital as refining the required clinical skills. As they are harder to quantify or to measure, soft skills can be more difficult to evaluate, but experience is one of the best teachers.
Soft Skills Can Be Mastered Through Daily Practice
Many soft skills can be practiced every day, as attributes such as time management and patience are always required in healthcare. This can quickly lead to the formation of habits that develop and improve organically over time.
Professional development can be another excellent route to advancing a person’s soft skills. These competencies are incorporated into all quality academic programs, allowing clinicians to improve their practice across the board. By committing to more training and expanding their knowledge, they also improve their chances for progression. People who are looking for a post in the highest-paying nursing careers should consider a Master of Science in Nursing – Family Nurse Practitioner course at Carson-Newman University. This 32-month program is designed for working professionals who want to earn a qualification remotely and then move into a senior primary care position.
Core Competencies And Abilities That Are Crucial For Healthcare Workers
Healthcare workers at all points on the career ladder share certain skills and traits. In this article, we look at the core competencies and abilities that are essential for professionals in the healthcare industry.
- Paying close attention to their patients
In every area of nursing, medical professionals need to have at least a basic knowledge of patient assessment. This allows them to monitor a patient’s condition and decide whether they need immediate care or whether their needs are less pressing. This involves a number of soft skills – primarily, the ability to listen to and watch a patient, and in doing so, learn more about their overall health. This can also be a useful method when it comes to sensing the patient’s concerns and noticing any symptoms they have not mentioned previously. As well as monitoring a patient’s vital signs using equipment, experienced professionals look for more subtle issues such as breathing problems, signs of physical pain and emotional distress.
- Staying calm under pressure
For staff nurses, physicians and sometimes consultants, responding to patient emergencies is a regular occurrence. Therefore, all healthcare workers should be confident in delivering urgent care without feeling panicked. Regardless of their role in the medical hierarchy, if a patient’s vital signs are changing and they are experiencing a life-threatening event, professionals will provide assistance. These incidents could include an airway obstruction, a catastrophic bleed or a cardiac arrest. The most frequently needed technical skills in this field are cardiopulmonary resuscitation and wound care. Confidence in these areas transfers well into emergency room work, as the ability to triage patients accurately means that they are sent to the appropriate department and given the right care.
- Strength and resilience
Nurses work long hours, which can include nights, early mornings and full days. For the majority of these 12-hour stints, they are on their feet and moving around the ward or the facility. Furthermore, they are often called upon to move heavy medical equipment and carry out other strenuous tasks, such as restocking cupboards and transferring patients. Without a relatively good standard of health and fitness, health professionals could quickly become exhausted or sustain an injury. As a result, they might not be able to deliver optimal patient care throughout a long shift.
- Willingness to learn new things
Advanced software, innovative gadgets and tools for monitoring are increasingly common sights in hospitals. Healthcare workers are also called upon to update and manage a system of electronic health records. They make appointments, consider treatments and make a diagnosis, using a range of applications designed especially for those purposes. Portable medical devices and wearables are a constant feature of patient care, and every year they advance even further to offer a wider range of uses.
The workforce in a modern hospital remains at the forefront of learning about each technology and adopting it as part of their daily practice. However, continued professional education is another aspect of working in the medical field. To keep their clinical skills up to date and broaden their knowledge base, healthcare workers are prepared to continue training and take further certifications. This ensures that they can provide excellent patient care, informed by the most recent medical advances.
- Effective communication skills
Good communication is halfway between a technical skill and a soft skill. It is certainly one of the key abilities needed to work well in a hospital, because transferring information between patients and professionals or between people in a medical team is vital. Nurses and physicians have to design treatment plans, and then explain them to a patient and be ready to answer their questions. This can be a challenge when the patient has limited medical knowledge, as the clinician will need to use terms that the patient can understand, while remaining medically accurate.
Furthermore, it is sometimes the case that a medic has to deliver very difficult news to a patient and their family. Doing this well requires compassion, but also clear communication so that nothing is misunderstood or misinterpreted. This means that they must feel confident in using nonverbal communication and body language to convey meaning. Ultimately, good communication is crucial for providing individualized care and successful outcomes for each patient.
- Thinking critically in a tight spot
The most successful healthcare workers can think beyond the task that they have been assigned to offer excellence in care. On any ward, the condition of a patient can change without warning, so nurses and physicians must always be ready to act and think quickly. As well as determining what has gone wrong, they need to decide how the care should continue and come up with a diagnosis. Nurse practitioners and consultants have a key role in assessing a patient’s symptoms, analyzing the results of their tests and considering a course of treatment. At each stage of this process, they have to use critical thinking skills to get it right.
However, this ability is also important in direct patient care. For instance, if a nurse is changing a dressing and a shift occurs in the patient’s vital signs, they need to interpret the changes correctly. Some fluctuations may be expected, but others could require immediate intervention. Knowing the difference is key – that’s why nurses are evaluating and re-evaluating information all the time. To do so accurately, they use critical thinking.
- Maintaining a positive outlook
Things can go wrong in a ward or a clinic, and there can also be distressed patients to assist and unexpected emergencies. A good attitude can be helpful when it comes to working through these situations with colleagues and also patients. By maintaining a consistent and positive level of performance, nurses appear more dependable and trustworthy to their patients. They are focused enough to stay on task, minimize the risk of mistakes and deliver a high standard of care. As most healthcare workers find a huge amount of joy in healing people, having a positive attitude tends to come naturally.
- Showing empathy to patients
Empathy in healthcare involves understanding a patient’s perspective from both an emotional and an intellectual standpoint. The professional will consider how that person is thinking and what they are feeling, and this makes it possible to form a connection. As a result, the care provided is more personalized, it will suit the needs of that individual patient, and it can be of better quality. Being empathetic can help to lessen a patient’s suffering and establish trust. This can lead to a patient being more compliant when it comes to taking their medication and being honest about their symptoms.
Nurses often have to face challenging interactions in which patients and their families are stricken with grief. Even for a professional, these are stressful situations, but healthcare workers know that their patients need compassion. Therefore, they stay calm, remain present and show empathy. In doing so, they can lower the level of distress that a patient is experiencing and support a good health outcome.
- Excellent time management
In small local clinics and large city hospitals alike, there are appointments to keep, busy times to manage and schedules to maintain. This ensures that emergencies can be dealt with, patients are seen efficiently, and paperwork is completed in a timely manner. Furthermore, by keeping track and staying with a plan, nurses will meet their deadlines and ensure that the workflow of their ward runs smoothly. Time management is most successful when it involves a set routine, following a pattern, or sticking with a list. This helps keeps nurses in control of their tasks. Knowing what they need to achieve in the next hour or day can also be motivating for clinicians and minimizes procrastination.
With an established timetable, healthcare workers feel less stressed because they are getting everything done on time, and their quality of care remains good because they are not rushing their interaction with each patient. Furthermore, by carrying this skill over to their life outside, nurses can enjoy a better work-life balance and feel refreshed when it’s time to return after a break.
- Adapting and being flexible
No two days are the same in healthcare. Those who work in this field know that their schedule will vary depending on the patients they have and the needs of their clinic. Remaining flexible in their approach ensures that a nurse or doctor can adapt as the situation changes but still complete their tasks. Furthermore, this attitude means that they are better equipped when a crisis occurs and can anticipate what to do next, without asking for help from other busy professionals. Finally, being able to adapt to technological changes in the ward is essential. Hospitals need staff who are ready to learn more about new devices and applications that can help them manage their workload more efficiently.
- Effective stress management
Nursing staff and other medical professionals dedicate their working life to caring for their patients. However, taking a moment to think about self-care and stress management is just as important. Stress can be difficult to identify and define. It can build up at unexpected times and quickly worsen, or dissipate without warning. Moreover, for nurses, it can impact their personal life as well as their professional performance. Although nurses cope well, they are not superhuman and will need to slow down, take a break and learn their limits if they are to maintain their feelings of job satisfaction.
They should be able to identify the sources of their stress and then take a moment to plan for them accordingly. This could be through healthy coping strategies, such as refining their work schedule to make it more efficient, taking the breaks they are entitled to, and using their time off to take part in activities they enjoy. Stress is part of life for most people, but managing it effectively can reduce its impact and allows healthcare workers to remain positive.
- Paying attention to the smallest detail
As part of their average day, nurses can participate in treating a patient at the bedside, scheduling a referral and updating notes. By paying attention to the details, they get these tasks done correctly the first time and do not have to go back over their work. Medical professionals deal with life-threatening and life-changing conditions on almost every shift, so their actions will have significant consequences every time they arrive on the ward. Even simple errors, such as failing to get a patient’s name right, neglecting to include their allergies, or missing symptoms, can lead to very negative outcomes. Therefore, healthcare workers develop their ability to pay attention to detail and stay focused throughout a shift.
- Capable of multitasking
Multitasking improves efficiency in a busy hospital because tasks are completed more swiftly and patient safety is prioritized. It is necessary even though nurses are frequently interrupted in their daily duties and healthcare facilities are busy, demanding environments. This is because the average practitioner is managing a high number of patients, all of whom need individual care throughout a shift. Furthermore, there are scheduled tasks to complete, meetings with colleagues to attend, and patient notes to document.
Managing several responsibilities is not easy, especially because a nurse’s list will often involve direct patient care. Nevertheless, when they refine this skill, they will be better at prioritizing a hectic schedule, remaining calm and working accurately. As a result, the most successful nurses and physicians are people who can multitask.
- Being patient
Wards are made up of many people, some of whom will be experiencing some level of stress or anxiety. From patients and their families to colleagues who are in a rush, everyone needs to be treated patiently. Being understanding makes a practitioner’s working day more efficient and effective. It helps others to manage their feelings of stress, establishes a calmer and more caring environment, and promotes better standards of patient care. In being patient, a clinician is better able to understand others, less quick to judge and more supportive.
- Awareness of patient safety
Understanding and remaining conscious of patient safety means that errors can be avoided and patients are less likely to be harmed. This skill involves more than providing great care and giving medication correctly. It is also about keeping a patient safe while they are staying in the hospital and when they go home. Care systems are more reliable when professionals can prevent falls by offering physical assistance to weak patients or those taking certain medications. This skill also includes speaking with patients before they leave to ensure that they have everything they need in place at home.
- Staying organized
Every day on the ward is different and the to-do list that a nurse writes in the morning may be irrelevant by the afternoon. Therefore, health professionals need to stay organized as this ensures that they are working optimally, whatever the shift throws at them. By managing their day effectively, they can prepare for unexpected events without forgetting to follow up on meetings or patient visits later on. This enhances patient care and makes a good impression on senior colleagues, meaning that nurses find it easier to move into more senior positions or take additional certifications.
Using All Of These Skills Together
Some of the key technical and soft skills of a health professional are taught as part of their training, while others improve over time. Patience, empathy and adaptability are honed during day-to-day work on the ward, and with a little practice, they soon become second nature. By continually developing both their hard and soft skills, practitioners can become happier and more confident in the role. Moreover, they deliver better care outcomes and are highly valued by their employer.
