20 Qualities Of A Great Nurse
Nurses - Do you hope you’re a good steward of the profession? If so, you might find these 20 qualities helpful. Discover what qualities create a good nurse, why these things are crucial to the profession, and how to implement them into your practice.
What Is A Good Nurse?
This is subjective. If you spoke to patients or nursing colleagues, they may have different answers, but many with the same theme. They may say a good nurse meets a patient's needs in a timely fashion, working seamlessly with the entire team to deliver the finest care possible.
Why Is It Important?
Lives depend on the outcomes of nurses’ care, but so does the positive perception of the nursing profession. For 20 years, a poll published by nurse.org reveals nurses continue to rank as the most trusted profession. By embodying the attributes below, nurses become part of an admirable team that creates positive health and wellness outcomes in our communities.
What Makes a Good Nurse?
1. Trustworthiness
Why It's Important: Providing understandable patient education, giving superb care, and discharging patients with an overall positive experience are the results of being trustworthy.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Listen well. Perform competent care. Admit what you don’t know, then find out. Do what you say you’re going to do. Stay humble.
2. Compassion
Why It's Important: To give good care, the care you deliver must be important to you. Compassion can’t be taught. It’s inherent.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Put yourself in your patient’s shoes andin the shoes of their family members. Adopt introspection, and apply it to your practice.
3. Responsibility
Why It's Important: A life is in your hands every shift. A responsible nurse is a safe nurse.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Prevent oversights or mistakes. Slow down, ask for help, and follow through on tasks without distraction.
4. Empathy
Why It's Important: Empathy, by its very meaning, allows humans to discern what someone else is going through. Putting this on yourself means increasing your quality of care, which is meaningful.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Give yourself gentle reminders about how it might feel to walk in your patient’s shoes, especially when you’re feeling rushed or overwhelmed.
5. Open-Mindedness
Why It's Important: Is your patient of a different religion, race, or differing political belief? Are they a marginalized community member? The biases we hold influence decision-making.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Evaluate your own personal bias. Read and seek a higher level of understanding. Be open to the patient's actual needs, not how you think they need to be cared for. Honor The Code of Ethics for Nurses, and hold yourself accountable.
6. Confidence
Why It's Important: Nurses make lightning-quick assessments and immediately start life-saving measures. As nurses grow in skill and knowledge, confidence develops. Patients are comforted by confidence when care is impacted by it.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Take continuing education and learning new skills seriously. Rinse, repeat.
7. Motivation
Why It's Important: An unmotivated nurse is a disengaged nurse. Being disengaged can lead to giving poor care.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Find ways to love your career! Learn new things and find your passion and niche.
8. Passion
Why It's Important: Passionate nurses want to be the best. Being the best nurse possible directly results in positive patient outcomes.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Think back to why you became a nurse, and what you wanted to accomplish Strip away all the noise and remember the drive you had. Find that again.
9. Level-Headedness
Why It's Important: Nurses often find themselves in critical situations. Staying level-headed forces intelligent actions and is an excellent example for other team members.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: This attribute comes with experience and an ability to overcome feelings of panic. Practice positive self-talk and envision any desired outcome.
10. Selflessness
Why It's Important: Nursing is a caring profession! The amount of time, effort, and energy it takes is a testament to the selflessness of nurses. Be able to do this without resentment..
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Find your “why.” Remind yourself of what landed you in this career. The gratification of successfully caring for someone who needs what you have to give can drive this quality.
11. Communication
Why It's Important: Communication is the pinnacle of success! “Miscommunications” are often the reason for negative ramifications. Demanding effective communication of all involved prevents errors.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Using the SBAR Tool is one professional tool to employ in any situation. Evaluating your communication patterns and being thorough is a great way to start.
12. Focus
Why It's Important: Unfocused nurses are inefficient and unsafe. Finding a way to stay on task with your mind in the game ensures patient safety and a satisfying result.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Minimize distractions and set goals. Make lists. Surround yourself with positive examples and like-minded coworkers.
13. Adaptability
Why It's Important: No two days for nurses are the same. Adapting to whatever comes our way allows for smooth work days and happy patients.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: The nursing profession constantly shifts and changes. Know that the best thing for you and your patient is to go with the flow and do what’s needed at the moment.
14. Positivity
Why It's Important: Positivity is infectious! Remaining positive means that those who come into contact with you benefit by adopting an equal enthusiasm.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Use positive affirmations, start believing you will make a difference each day, and contribute to your legacy.
15. Loyalty
Why It's Important: Nurses can’t gain the experience required for their practice without loyalty to the profession. Dedication to patients, coworkers, organizations, and positive patient outcomes stems from personal loyalty.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Find your niche, then find your tribe! It’s impossible to develop loyalty to things or people we don’t love or respect.
16. Professionalism
Why It's Important: Remaining professional can keep nurses focused, and ensure we align with the basic building blocks of nursing, The Nursing Process.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Nurses who employ the other 19 qualities of a good nurse ARE professionals! In addition, participating in continuing education above what is required for licensure proves you hold high standards.
17. Forging Connections
Why It's Important: A well-connected treatment team is effective. A team that respects each other across specialties and departments is a winning team.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Make an effort to be present during interactions with your patient and their physician, phlebotomist, x-ray tech, etc. Being involved in care discussions and a patient’s complete experience helps you to be known as a good nurse.
18. Stubbornness
Why It's Important: A stubborn nurse sticks with it! Persistent nurses truly own the care they give. Abnormal lab results will be investigated. Altered mental status will be assessed and treated until it’s resolved.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Engage yourself from the periphery. Don’t just go through the motions. Hold yourself and others accountable.
19. Always Learning
Why it’s Important: The medical profession is ever-changing. Keeping up with the latest changes in the trade will ensure your success in providing the best care.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Sign up for educational staff meetings, and subscribe to nursing journals. Read blogs. Listen to podcasts. Find the way you like to learn and dig in!
20. Ability to Recharge
Why It's Important: A nurse with very little to give will not be a good nurse. As we’ve all heard, we must fill our cups first. Be self-aware of this and put it to use.
How to Improve on it for Yourself: Ensuring our basic needs are met and we have time for self-care will go a long way! Find that balance.
Nurses are stressed, burned out, unfulfilled, and ready for change. Loyalty to patients and the profession prevents leaving the profession entirely. Thankfully, nursing holds so many other opportunities to make a change.
Career change is overwhelming. EARN’s recruiting process using an experienced peer nurse is an unparalleled benefit. Nurses deserve the ease of using EARN as a knowledgeable partner to boost their full-time careers to the next level.
Don’t trust just anyone with your next employer match - Work with an expert. Schedule your 15-minute virtual EARN evaluation with your peer nurse now!
References:
Gaines, K. (2022). Nursing Ranked as the Most Trusted Profession for the 20th Year in a Row. nurse.org. https://nurse.org/articles/nursing-ranked-most-honest-profession/
(2022). View the Code of Ethics for Nurses With Interpretive Statements. nursingworld.org. https://www.nursingworld.org/practice-policy/nursing-excellence/ethics/code-of-ethics-for-nurses
Toney-Butler TJ, Thayer JM. Nursing Process. [Updated 2022 Apr 14]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2022 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK499937/
Author Bio
Trisha Wiseman, BSN, RN is a registered nurse, and a 27-year veteran of the medical field, who considers herself a lifelong learner. She has found a passion for educating the masses in public health and has done so her entire nursing career. She was Nurse of the Year for her division in 2012, for a health system of 8,000+ caregivers. She has a background as a Certified Pharmacy Tech in inpatient and outpatient pharmacy, as well as a nurse in emergency medicine, family practice, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery, home care, long-term acute care (LTACH), case management, and utilization management. When she’s not writing, she’s not working her 8-5, she’s providing the best taxi service around to her two fantastic kids, and drinking coffee around the clock!
