Registered Nurse

When handling numerous patients, you need to make sure you know exactly where all your supplies and equipment are before you need them. Having an established system of organization in place will make things like changing an IV become quick and easy.

Spiritual and emotional care can be just as critical to a patient’s recovery as is the physical care. Understanding and caring for your patients involves more than just going through the motions, you need to be able to relate to their experiences.

Working long shifts while confronted with traumatic, tragic and difficult emergencies can lead many nurses to mental and physical breakdowns. A healthy nurse needs to learn to compartmentalize stress, leaving it at the workplace so time spent at home can focus on a healthy lifestyle.

Often times RNs may be faced with extreme circumstances, treating patients with little to no chance of survival while the family looks on. In these circumstances they must have the patience to understand that families may be act irrationally and the resilience to keep working in face of little hope.

70.5% of nurses claim the effects of stress are among their top three health and safety concerns. Stress can dramatically affect mental and physical well being, and the unpredictable nature of healthcare work creates ripe circumstances for stress to run rampant. If a nurse is to be effective, they must be able to effectively manage stress.

RNs are often the people spending the most time with the patients, and in that role is critical that they are able to notice the small cues a patient gives that can indicate an improvement or decline in their situation. Things as small as a change in tone of voice, skin color or sweating can be early signals that something needs to be done.

To effectively handle large patient loads, nurses need to be able to quickly make sound judgements. This skill comes with years of experience, but being able to critically discern serious ailments from minor and identify when a patient needs extra attention is essential to being a good caregiver.

Caring for patients can be volatile and tumultuous, involving quick decisions that can have far-reaching consequences. Nurses must be able to be accountable for their actions and hold themselves responsible for decisions made in the heat of the moment. This necessary not only for the hospital, but also so the nurse can be confident they did everything to best of their ability.

Effective communication ensures that care is administered properly. For example, when nurses switch shifts if they do not adequately relay the details of what happened with a patient, such as an allergic reaction or a fall, they risk harming their patient’s health.