Thinking About Nursing School: Is This an Option for Me?

Nurses are caregivers. There’s something these people have that goes beyond “wanting to help” to making a real difference in the lives of thousands. Nurses often don’t sign on for this career because they are money-motivated. The majority of these healthcare professionals are so excited about their careers they feel consider nursing to be their calling, not just their job.

11 Characteristics and Skills of Successful Nurses

Your nature may be that of a caregiver. But to be successful in any career, you need other important characteristics. To be a successful nursing professional, other important qualities and skills include:

1. Authenticity – “Half the battle is showing up” doesn’t work for you. You develop connections with your colleagues and patients.
2. Continually learning – Educational updates are critical in this age of technology. Successful nurses know what they don’t know can hurt others. Taking skills classes and information sharing is part of a successful nursing career.
3. Creativity – Can you approach a problem from several directions? The solution may lie in taking an unconventional approach, especially when faced with, “We’ve always done it this way.”
4. Humility – We’re human and we make mistakes. A successful nurse acknowledges failure and learns from it.
5. Integrity – You have genuine, unconditional respect for others.
6. Listening skills – There’s more to listening skills than meets the eyes! A competent nurse listens carefully to patients’ words. Perhaps he or she repeats back, “I hear you saying…” But successful nurses watch for nonverbal clues; posture, nervous gestures, and other signs that help further understanding of the patient’s condition.
7. Persistence – Successful people never stop trying, even when the challenges seem overwhelming.
8. Physical strength – Nurses use their bodies for many tasks and may walk several miles during a typical day.
9. Problem-avoidance – The way to minimize cross-contamination risks is to stop it before it starts. Patient handling for prevention of disease spread is a learned skill.
10. Strength of character – Healthcare professionals are challenged to put money over treatment and lower facility costs. Successful nurses recognize the need to meet business objectives in the workplace – as long as those objectives don’t compromise patient care.
11. Team-oriented – No one works alone. Even a hermit scientist has to walk out of the lab with a formula to share or theory to test. Working well within a team is important to successful people, who tend to be leaders. Leaders know when to be followers, too.

Nurses Need the Right Qualities and the Right Education

Patience is another characteristic that can be developed and learned. Many of us are impatient and want what we want now. That is actually a good quality when used the right way. You can learn skills – and gain the confidence you need – with the right nursing school program.

What is Nursing School Like?

Impatience can work to your advantage, too. An accelerated degree program is for people in a hurry to learn and earn! Your nursing school program will be challenging – you will study a lot – but you should also gain confidence.

You should learn ways to identify medications and their doses and ways to cross-reference to ensure patient medication safety. You could also gain the confidence that comes with knowledge: You should be secure enough to question medication prescriptions and doses if they might put a patient at-risk. Remember that doctors and other medical staff can make mistakes too and you might be the one to catch them and help a patient.

In nursing school, you will begin a lifelong process: You’ll start building a support-and-sharing-network of contacts and friends. Your classmates understand what you’re trying to accomplish because they’re on the same journey with you. You share common goals and could rejoice in each other’s accomplishments.

Your Name (Comma) BSN

Professionals don’t deny it. There’s something gratifying about having a title. If you earn your ABSN (Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing) degree, that title – BSN – will follow your name forever or until you become a graduate student (then you could become an MSN – Master of Science in Nursing).

How proud you should be! Earning your Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing will speak volumes about your ability to persevere; to do what’s needed to get the job done.

Earn Your Degree with ECPI University

Nursing as a profession is becoming a critical healthcare role in our country. More nurses are filling leadership and advanced patient-care positions than ever before.

If you want to become a BSN and earn your Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, ECPI University offers this program at an accelerated rate. For more information about this exciting opportunity, connect with a friendly admissions advisor today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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For more information about ECPI University or any of our programs click here: http://www.ecpi.edu/ or http://ow.ly/Ca1ya.