10 Must have Interpersonal skill for nurses

A good nurse treats patients and colleagues with dignity, kindness, respect and care.

But there is more to it than most people think.

Taking care of patients itself is difficult. But, nurses in a hospital environment have to do even more.

We have to deal with angry, stressed, sad and even Brocken people on a regular basis.

Dealing with patients, bystanders, doctors and co-workers in a stressful environment on a daily basis is not easy.

On top of all this, a nurse have to fight with HR & Management for fair pay & good working conditions (this is the case in Indian hospitals).

Then we have to take care of our own personal life.

But as a professionally trained Nurse, we have to learn & adapt to do all these.

So a professional nurse must have the quality & skills to manage all this.

We also have to be up-to date with adequate knowledge and best practice in nursing .

Following are some of the must have Interpersonal, Soft and social skills for all practicing Nurses.

Standing Up For Right Thing

One decision/act you take as a nurse may change a persons whole life. It is kind of scary and cool at same time.

By standing up for right thing i mean: doing the right thing for yourself, patient and everyone else involved.

This include standing up for your own rights and patients rights. You should never involve in any action that is against medical ethics, fundamental rights & peoples rights.

You should be aware of these rights & laws, and any requests or demand against these things should be treated with intelligence and diligence. You can ask for help from co-workers, authorities, different nurses organizations or even reporting to police.

So understanding and observing everything happening around you and letting someone know when the limit is reached is one of the first skill you must have to survive in your career.

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Kindness and care

People are most helpless and vulnerable when they are sick. It is our responsibility to treat patients with Kindness and care.

While working conditions, pay, facilities & many other things affect the level of care you can provide, you should always try your best provide the are a patient deserve.

So second skill you should develop is the skill to deal with different type of patients with ease.

Communication Skills

Communication skills are no doubt most important skill in almost all jobs, especially in service sector.

Nurses should learn and train themselves to communicate with people in a clear and simple manner. One word you say might cause many issues if not spoken with care.

Confidence of patients on doctors, nurses and hospital depend largely on nurses.

Empathy

Empathy is kind of a dangerous thing. Most of the time people take advantage of good people. But that doesn’t mean you should be empathetic towards people who deserve it.

I can guarantee you that some people will never forget a good thing that you did for them. And they will be thankful to you untill the end of life.

Attention

Being attentive to what people say is very important as a nurse, because as i mentioned earlier, your actions might change a persons life in a dramatic way.

If you are confused about something important, don’t do it. Ask for help even if no one is in a helping mood.

Problem Solving

Asking for help when in doubt is a good thing but, depending on someone for everything is a big NO.

You should try to solve small problems in ‘your own way’ or at least try to do it first.

Sympathy

Sometimes your situation is very difficult to care much about other peoples problems. But you should always try to understand and the difficulties of people.

Even if you cannot do anything, sometimes words can heal hurt people faster than medicine.

Intelligence

Learning things other than nursing is very important. This will improve your professional skills & intelligence in ways you could not imagine.

I would suggest you to learn(or should i say enjoy content related to) finance, little bit of politics, economics, science & new tech.

Other fields that are closely related to nursing but largely ignored by nurses are human rights, hospital management etc.

You can learn by watching very entertaining videos on these topics created by both experts and enthusiasts.

Commitment to Patient Advocacy.

Always be aware of patients rights and advocate for it. Educating patients about his/her/others right will only benefit you because when they are aware, they can demand it themselves