Allied health professionals, from medical coders and billers to physician's assistants and doctors, all play a vital role in the field of health care. The best of those professionals display a number of qualities that make them valuable in the profession. Such qualities are:
- Excellent Communication Skills: Strong communicative skills are important so that complex terminology can be explained to patients in plain language; also it is important that healthcare professionals be excellent listeners.
- Good Bedside Manner: "Good bedside manner" pertains to more than a doctor visiting his patient in the hospital. Having a "good bedside manner" applies to any health care professional who comes in contact with patients; it means making patients feel as comfortable as possible at any stage of exams and treatment, even as early as sitting in a waiting room.
- Good Problem Solver: Medical personnel must be problem solvers that quickly come up with solutions to problems, be it involving the human body or insurance paper work.
- Empathetic: Health care personnel must have a sense of empathy towards patients; they must understand that people have feelings and they must be supportive to patients.
- Complete and Thorough: The most minor mistakes can create a ripple effect in consequence. For this reason, medical personnel must be thorough in all that they do.
- Commits Time to Patients: Medical professionals must always be patient and ensure that adequate time is given to patients, whether to properly fill out medical paper work or to diagnose and treat medical problems. For this reason, they always must commit adequate time to patients.
- Continues Education: As technology and techniques are constantly evolving, health care professionals must always continue their education, be it via reading medical journals or going back to school for remedial classes involving computers.
- Strong Medical Knowledge: Medical professionals should have at least some medical knowledge. When they are unsure of the facts, they are always ready to admit that they are unsure and refer the patient to someone that is better informed.
- Supports Patients Wishes: Decisions regarding health must always remain under the control of the patient. This is their right, and health care professionals must respect that, regardless of their personal opinion.
- Possesses Strong Sense of Ethics: Individuals working in healthcare must be ethical; they always hold true to a value system that thoroughly respects patients dignity and privacy.
Nurses, Who Says You Have to Smile?
I do not think of myself as a smiler. It’s not that I am unhappy all the time, or that I dislike smiling, I just don’t make a conscious effort to do so. I have other things which I consider to be a priority, but I do laugh easily and quickly. Even at work. Apparently
the fact that I don’t have a smile or any variation thereof plastered
on my face all of the time earned me the nickname “Nurse Frowny Face”
from one of my patients, who was offended by my lack of smiling. Well,
that wasn’t the only problem, as I had asked her to please keep her
voice down in a hallway that has acoustics better suited for a concert
hall than a psychiatric unit, when she wanted to know if everyone had
gone out to smoke without her. Sigh. This earned me a meeting with a supervisor about being rude…
I
am all for maintaining a professional demeanor but I absolutely refuse
to put a smile on constantly for anyone, including the patients. I
believe that if you maintain such a demeanor all the time and without
variation, you come across as superficial, annoying and insensitive to
patients, among others. It is ok to cry with them, to feel anger and annoyance for (and even with) them, and definitely ok to laugh with them. However,
to insist that a nurse be smiling and sweet all the time to “cheer up”
the patients, especially depressed ones, is asinine. We
are not robots who are programmed by those around us to function at
what they perceive to be an optimal level; we are only human. Having been a patient, I would not want a bubbly nurse when I am in physical or emotional agony. I want one who can introduce him or herself, look into my eyes, and empathize with me without being swallowed up by my pain. If he or she can “mirror” my emotions, I am convinced that he or she is following how I feel without taking on my problem. I believe that, above all, being genuine and kind facilitates the healing process, not the expression on my face.
Being a good nurse requires excellent psychosocial skills, in particular mastery of your interpersonal skills. “Enhancing your calm” is essential. It is also important to not be a doormat, as you are an individual just as worthy of kindness and respect as the next person. You have the right to ask to be treated as such. But, there are also going to be times when you slip, times when you let ‘er rip and say something which you may regret later. All you can really do then is apologize and acknowledge that you were out of line. In
the meantime, and hopefully prolonging this event until your very last
working day before retirement, I believe it is important to spend some
time reflecting on what or who pushes your buttons. Come up with some strategies for coping with these. It
might be a matter of taking a course in assertiveness to help you
communicate in a way that is both pleasant toward others and protective
of your feelings. It might also
be a matter of knowing when to stop trying to be Super Nurse on the
Unit, asking for help, and/or taking a break when things are
particularly rough. Sometimes you should just let things slide, as we have a lot to worry about as it is. Either way, setting limits with patients, co-workers, physicians, and families is important. I find that when I can strike a balance with this, the expression on my face doesn’t matter. My eyes sparkle, my voice is warm and pleasant, and I am able to remain totally enthralled with the growth I witness within my patients because I can help nurture it.
About this Author: Rachel
E. Clements is one of those "second winders" who began training in one
career field and chose nursing instead; she has been a nurse for 5 years
in May. Rachel lives and works
in Boise, Idaho, and is currently enrolled in Montana State University's
online Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner program. In
her spare time, Rachel enjoys hiking, savoring the sunshine with her
two kitties, and tending to the yard of her relatively new house!
Source Page borrowed from.... nursetogether.com:
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