Successful healthcare professionals have far more about them than the ability to recite all the human bones or administer correct medications. As an aspiring healthcare worker, you are likely to know this. So, what is it that makes up a successful and inspiring healthcare worker? Is it the work ethic, the amount of education, or a mixture of natural talents? Here are the eleven necessary qualities of successful healthcare professionals.
1: A Love of Learning
For many healthcare careers, many years of higher education are required. If you want to because a qualified nurse, for example, you’ll need to at least complete a bachelor’s degree. Marymount University provides a BSN course that’ll provide you with the skills you need to become a nurse and thrive as one. However, to do that, you’ll need to have a genuine love for learning.
For other careers, like surgeons and nurse midwives, you’ll need to spend a lot more time at school – sometimes upwards of seven years. It makes sense, then, that you have a natural curiosity about education, especially the sciences, before getting involved in a healthcare career.
2: Excellent Communication
Healthcare workers don’t just communicate with their patients – they also communicate with doctors, nurses, and other co-workers. For this reason, they must have excellent communication skills. So, if you want to work in healthcare, you should focus on speaking clearly and listening well, as not only will it help you in your career, but it’ll also help you throughout your time in college. Remember – communication isn’t just the ability to talk; it is also about being an active listener.
3: Teamwork Skills
More often than not, healthcare professionals work as a team. For example, when a doctor gives surgery, you’ll usually see a team of nurses/other doctors around them, either handing equipment or typing information into a computer. Of course, it’s not just surgery that requires a team of people – it’s many areas of healthcare. So, to be a successful healthcare worker, you must work well as a team. That means listening to all team members, pulling your weight, and speaking up about problems when necessary.
4: Natural Empathy
Most healthcare workers have natural empathy, especially the best ones. It’s hard to put lots of effort in every day, but you do nonetheless when you genuinely care about your patients. It gives you a boost of motivation even after an uncommonly long shift or a sea of particularly difficult patients.
5: Self-Care Abilities
People who work in healthcare aren’t just talented at caring for others – they also know how to take care of themselves. Without a good amount of self-care, they would likely start feeling tired, grumpy, and unmotivated at work.
Some of the ways you should engage in self-care as a healthcare provider include getting enough sleep, maintaining a healthy weight, cutting out bad habits, and spending time alone. Surprisingly, it’s sometimes much easier to provide patients with care than it is yourself.
6: Intelligence
Healthcare workers have lots of knowledge. But, to retain that knowledge, they must have a level of intelligence that goes beyond the average person, especially if they work in careers that require advanced education like a doctorate.
It’s not just academic intelligence that successful healthcare providers have, though – it is also emotional intelligence. They need to be able to read people and the situation and relay facts, as each patient is an individual. So, if you’re considering a healthcare role, you should think about your natural intelligence and how to boost it.
7: Patience
Despite many healthcare careers having extremely busy workdays, many roles also require a great deal of patience. For example, you might need to wait a long time for a patient to speak, for a prescription to go through, or for a patient that you have worked with a long time to show signs of healing finally. For this reason, it’s not a field for the impatient.
8: A Positive Attitude
Working in the healthcare industry is hard. In some careers, it might get so overwhelming that you feel like hiding away from the world. The problem is, as a healthcare provider, you cannot do that – not when your patients and co-workers are relying on you. In these situations, you must have a positive attitude to help get you through the day.
Having a positive attitude as a healthcare worker isn’t just helpful on the tough days, either. It will also ensure you leave a great impression on the patients, who will always prefer to be cared for by someone who seems chirpy and happy rather than overrun and miserable. Plus, by staying positive, you’re likely to lift your co-workers’ moods, too.
9: A Steady Hand
A steady hand is an essential quality for many healthcare workers, especially those who provide jabs and surgery. After all, no patient wants someone cutting into them with shaking hands! So, while everyone gets the jitters sometimes, it’s crucial to keep a steady hand when the time calls for it.
10: Endurance
It is not uncommon for many healthcare workers to spend sixteen hours on a shift in a hospital. Not everyone can manage that, which means you should have a great deal of endurance if you want to work in healthcare – both mentally and physically. The chances are your time studying to become a healthcare worker will test your endurance, especially in the run-up to exams or the time you’ll spend doing work experience.
11: A Genuine Desire to Help People
Working in the healthcare industry can be endlessly challenging. For this reason, you must have a genuine desire to help people. Without that, you won’t last long at all. It’ll be your passion and motivation to give people the best care possible that’ll push you through the tougher days.
The healthcare field is full to the brim of hard-working, compassionate individuals that spend their lives improving others. If you have these eleven qualities, then you could join them.
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