Why is it essential for nurses to develop clinical and soft skills, and how are nursing students supported in their education?
Nursing professionals need a combination of clinical and soft skills to thrive in their roles. The practical or technical competencies that nursing individuals acquire via training, education and the appropriate certification are known as clinical skills, also referred to as hard skills. Soft skills are character attributes that facilitate successful interpersonal relationships and efficient job performance.
Why is it crucial to have nursing skills?
Nursing abilities enable nurses to provide individuals with the greatest care possible, collaborate effectively with other healthcare professionals, and establish strong relationships with communities. Nurses undergo extensive training and study before becoming certified to practice nursing. In addition to obtaining information and understanding, education and training provide nurses with the chance to acquire the fundamental competencies in nursing that are necessary to succeed in their jobs.
Important clinical skills in the nursing profession
Clinical competencies in nursing are skills that allow nursing professionals to perform duties in hospitals or healthcare facilities and provide individuals with health services. Clinical skills are acquired by nurses through relevant education, training and certification programs for nurses, and also through practical work experience. The field of nursing requires specific clinical nursing abilities. The following are some of the most crucial clinical nursing abilities that employers seek in candidates for nursing positions.
Fundamental understanding of caring
As nurses are frontline healthcare providers, they frequently interact with patients before they are scheduled to meet their physicians. Nursing professionals must therefore equip themselves with fundamental medical understanding and abilities in order to assist the individuals they serve. Nurses must have extensive knowledge of how to inspect the patients and also how to monitor and document their health indicators. They should also be aware of how to administer injections and provide assistance to patients with testing and treatment. Nurses must have a comprehensive knowledge of medical terminology.
Emergency and urgent care
Nurses play a crucial role in medical emergencies or critical situations, so they must act swiftly. This competence is applicable to nurses employed in ER and also to nurse practitioners in other departments, as a critical circumstance can occur at any place and at any time. For example, a patient receiving a dose of medication could experience unconsciousness or difficulty breathing due to an adverse response to the administered medicine. To safeguard the patient’s life in these emergency situations, nurses must use their clinical expertise and act quickly. Nurses are faced with a number of emergency scenarios, but as they gain clinical and technical expertise, they can narrow their attention to a particular area of care.
Monitoring health indicators
The fundamental clinical abilities of the nursing profession include examining and keeping track of the vital signs of patients. The patient’s temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate and breathing comprise a few of the health indicators that nurses should be able to monitor. Nurses may develop therapeutic guidelines, evaluate how the patients are reacting to therapy, and make crucial decisions by being able to observe these vital signs. Such details allow nurses to acquire essential data that will assist them in formulating treatment methods that will be followed.
Movement of the patient
Helping individuals move throughout their stay in the hospital is one of a nurse’s duties. Nurses must have the ability to demonstrate to patients how to use walkers, crutches, wheelchairs and other equipment. They should also be aware of the proper wheelchair usage to prevent mishaps. They should also be able to maneuver patient beds, relocate them whenever needed, and adjust them according to the patient’s needs. Nurses must also have the ability to transfer a patient to and from a vehicle both during admission and discharge. Additionally, nursing professionals need to be able to instruct patients regarding how to operate home mobility equipment.
Educating patients and relatives
Nurses must possess the ability to educate patients and their family members. This is because they are frequently the first professional who interacts with patients and their relatives and guides them on the treatment. This ability helps with educating the patient and their relatives about the effectiveness of the therapy and how to provide optimal care to the patient in order to prevent an incident that may require a trip back to the hospital.
Safety and security of patients
In the nursing profession, taking care of patients comes first. Nurses make sure that the patient is secure and safe during their stay in the hospital and also after they are discharged and return home. These professionals use their knowledge to assist patients in how to lower the chance of falls. Moreover, nurses are also responsible for guiding patients on how to take precautions against hospital-acquired infections. They educate patients about safety precautions to take at home. They also ensure that the appropriate dosage of medicine is given and provide patients with essential physical assistance.
Skills in technology
Technology skills enable nurses to excel in their nursing roles. They enable nurses to utilize a variety of technologies used in medical organizations. Nurses may check and track their patients’ health indicators using technology, keep a record of patient improvement, and maintain their medical information. Nursing professionals will benefit from having these abilities as more medical organizations use cutting-edge technological devices in the workplace.
Taking care of wounds and injuries
One of the duties of nurses is the treatment and dressing of wounds and injuries. In the majority of their specialties, nurses must occasionally clean and bandage their patients’ wounds. In order to avoid infection or other harm, they must additionally educate their patients on how to care for their wounds at home properly.
Almost all of these skills can be learned through the AGNP programs online taught by the University of Indianapolis. The university’s courses are conducted completely online, which provides aspiring nurses with the opportunity to learn and earn at the same time.
Important soft skills in the nursing profession
The abilities and traits that enable nurse practitioners to flourish in their positions are known as soft skills. Along with clinical skills, such as diagnosis or various patient care abilities, nurses also need soft skills. Soft skills are helpful abilities that are part of a nurse’s character and work ethic. While supporting patients, soft skills may assist nurses in adjusting to their job environment and also help them in acquiring other crucial abilities.
By practicing nursing, gaining experience and fostering their innate skills, these professionals can build soft skills. Individuals may frequently gain the knowledge to build soft skills on their own, unlike hard or clinical skills, which are generally acquired via specialized education, training and instruction. Those who want to pursue a profession in nursing should be aware of the essential soft skills that nurses need in order to succeed. The right soft skills may help nurses succeed in their careers and provide patients with high-quality care. The following are a few of the most crucial soft skills that employers look for in applicants for nursing positions.
Attention to detail
Nurses have to be highly vigilant and pay close attention so they do not overlook anything that might have a significant impact on the health of a patient. It is necessary for nurses to be attentive while patients are describing their signs and symptoms, and also when information about patients is being recorded and the conditions of patients are being monitored. Any small medical error might have a negative impact on the patient’s quality of life. For individuals who want to pursue a profession in nursing, attention to detail is one of the more important abilities to take into account.
Communication
To build relationships with their patients and work cooperatively with other healthcare professionals, nurse practitioners must engage in effective communication practices. Nurses interact with patients and their family members when they arrive at the healthcare facility to get therapy. They explain to patients and their relatives the symptoms and the processes of the medical treatments in language that can be comprehended. The nurses may inquire about the individual’s medical and family history through interpersonal dialogue. As the healing process gets underway, they could also give patients and their families words of encouragement. Nurses working in hospitals frequently discuss symptoms they have seen in patients with doctors to aid in diagnosis.
Teamwork
Nursing professionals must collaborate with physicians and other healthcare providers if they want to be successful in the field. Collaboration makes information exchange possible and enhances patient satisfaction. A strong team player is someone who the medical staff can depend on at all times, particularly during an emergency when cooperation among teammates is necessary.
Time management and multi-tasking
When caring for multiple patients simultaneously, nurses must prioritize and organize their schedules properly to make sure that each patient gets their treatment and medication on time. Nurses must bandage wounds, replace equipment, give injections, offer oral drugs, administer drips and monitor patients’ health indicators when caring for patients. To make sure that patients never miss their medication or treatments, nurses must multitask and perform these duties in a timely manner.
Ethics and confidentiality
The collection of moral guidelines known as nursing ethics guides the actions and judgments of nurses. As they frequently make choices that might either save or end lives, nurses are required to uphold a strong code of ethics. In particular, while discussing a patient’s medical situation, nurses must protect their privacy. Before disclosing highly sensitive data concerning the health of a patient, nurses must get their consent.
Different ways that nursing students are supported in their education
Simulation labs
Simulation labs are used in the nursing profession to impart both theoretical and practical knowledge while emphasizing the development of students’ critical thinking. Through simulation, individuals may perform in a setting that is similar to a medical facility and receive hands-on training in medical and nursing fields before they start their careers. The students are able to put the knowledge they have learned into practice, deal with challenges and issues, and make errors without harming anyone – all in a secure setting with no potential danger to patients.
Mentors
As a nurse, there are several benefits to having a nursing mentor. One significant advantage is that whether the individual is a student, freshly graduated, growing in their profession, or even switching specialties, mentors may influence their professional development. A mentor can assist nurses in overcoming obstacles. Notably, new nurses face challenges in adjusting to their new positions – these can include adverse workplace conditions, unhappiness with their employment, stress and burnout. These difficulties lead to significant turnover rates of skilled nurses. A skilled nursing mentor can prevent this from happening. They may offer nursing individuals the resources they need to meet problems while boosting their self-assurance and resilience.
Clinical placements
In a practice setting, nursing students apply their learning, acquire valuable skills and build the competencies required to be certified. When individuals learn in the practical environment of clinical practice, they are better equipped to handle many of the challenges and issues related to care.
Community service hours
Many nurses are required to complete a specific number of hours of community service as they are part of their graduation requirements. Nurses generally also willingly serve the community in order to gain hands-on experience of working with patients before beginning their actual practice. This helps nursing students improve their skills, practice what they have learned, and improve their prospects of getting a good job because volunteer work is always appreciated.
We hope that you found this article helpful. If you are considering entering the nursing profession or want to advance your nursing career, why not look into enrolling in a course?