Stand Out In Your Scrubs: 6 Tips For Nurses: The medical sector is one of the biggest industries to exist. It is a collection of various healthcare experts and departments that help look after different patients and achieve health goals. One of the most crucial divisions is nursing.
As a nurse, you’re at the front of patient care and the bridge between all medical experts and patients. However, since your role is essential, it is saturated with competition. When you make a successful nursing career for yourself, you achieve stability and a secure job.
Additionally, you want doctors to choose your expertise over others, boosting your nursing profile. So to be more than a statistic on a paper, here’s how you can shine:
- Pick the right subfield for yourself
There is immense pressure on nurses to specialize in their careers. Therefore, there will come the point where you feel you need to make an informed choice on picking the path for you. Nursing is not a linear profession and should never be treated as such. Whether you’re starting as an RN or have a BSN, you can go down many routes to get to the terminal degree or skill you want.
By looking for the best nursing path, you can find various ways to claim a spot for yourself on the medical expert pedestal. Whether you choose a master’s degree, go for a DNP degree or specialize in subfields like geriatrics, informatics, or emergency care, informed choice makes a difference. Don’t go for a field simply because it’s popular. Instead, always choose an option that plays by your strength, accounts for your personality, and helps you be different from your peers.
- Volunteer outside of the hospital
A professional career entails that you should feel free to do more than provides your services to the hospital. If your nursing profile is diverse and covers a range of people and communities you’ve worked with, you can make yourself stand out in more than one way. Hospitals are on the lookout for flexible professionals who can work with a range of patients. Working with the impoverished sector also allows you to explore illnesses and diseases you may not get to witness in some healthcare establishments. This also allows you to design research papers and discuss your findings volunteering outside the hospital in much greater detail.
For instance, you may understand problems related to substance abuse better when you work with people who are struggling with the issue. Volunteering also makes you a better patient advocate, speaking from experience, not passing sweeping statements.
- Find yourself a mentor
Mentors are skilled professionals with industry knowledge that no textbook can teach you. These experts are well aware of how to navigate the nursing sector enough to make an impact. So if you need help in making your mark, stick with a mentor and listen to their advice. An illustrious profession like nursing can prosper in many ways. However, some routes you may take can be longer than necessary and prevent you from reaching where you want. In such cases, it’s good to have a supervisor look after you.
A mentor will inform you about the workshops you should take, the doctors you should get a recommendation from, and where you should volunteer and start your welfare work. This helps you gain momentum and perspective in your career. So if you’re looking to stand out in a good way, allow the experience of seasoned professionals to wash over you.
- Become an active reader
There is numerous material available for you as a nurse to explore. These include nursing blogs, research papers, and journals, all available online. You should indulge in these as much as possible. Nursing blogs are personal accounts of a nursing professional’s journey through this sector. You pick up vital information such as applying for a promotion, technology that will impact your career, and the kind of research work you do.
Journals inform you of nurses’ work in addressing many public health concerns and how they tracked down methods to help communities. You can follow the given blueprint to draft a publication of your own or add on to the information already available. Your learning should not stop after you acquire your degree. There is still much you can do by subscribing to the literature available. After all, there is nothing better than a nurse willing to go the extra mile for their career.
- Get used to being in a team
Nursing is not a solo venture. You’ll always find yourself working alongside other professionals to achieve similar goals. You have to manage an influx of cases you cannot do on your own at one time. So with the help of your nursing team, you can ensure you provide adequate care to everyone. Being a team player is all about being forthcoming and accepting towards others.
You shouldn’t let your arrogance and accomplishments cloud you from seeing the bigger picture. If you can’t handle a team setting, you’ll struggle to become the best version for yourself. When you’re dealing with shifts, it’s good to have people alongside you. This helps you manage the workload better and even ask a teammate to cover for you when you have other work.
- Hone your bedside manner
Your bedside manner plays a massive role in headlining you as a nurse. When patients are happy with the services you provide, your method of communication and feel that you’re both Empathetic and mindful towards them. It makes it popular among your patients. Your central role in a hospital is to ensure patients get looked after to the best of your abilities. So don’t hold back from establishing cordial relationships which are beneficial for you and them.
Having a connection with your patient allows them to trust you, which will enable you to administer the care they need. So if you struggle to form meaningful relationships with your patients, work on your bedside manners.
Conclusion
Who doesn’t want to stand out in their profession, especially if it’s a highly competitive field like nursing? Therefore to achieve this feat, you have to cross numerous hurdles. Start by picking out the subfield most appropriate for your skills and choose to work outside the hospital. Having a mentor in your corner will help you grow professionally. It will also help you build your knowledge if you engage in online blogs and research. Finally, make sure you get used to working in a team and work on enhancing your bedside manner for your patient’s comfort.
