To become a career nurse, there are certain characteristics and personal qualities that define one as successful in pursuing the career. One has to communicate effectively, be caring, and show a sense of responsibility (Cowan, Norman, and Coopamah 3). A caring person can improve patient care by developing the desired qualities that enable them to empathize with people suffering from different ailments. Besides, any career is founded on good communication skills. By communicating effectively, one can deliver messages to the patient. That is besides having good communication skills. The rationale is to have the ability to pass information to the patient and their families with clarity and advocate the patient’s needs. A responsible person can develop the necessary skills for a professional nurse when it comes to their job demands.
According to Fortinash and Holiday-Worst, the personal attributes include being emphatic, detail-oriented, emotionally stable, adaptable besides having great physical endurance and interpersonal skills (2). One needs to develop the ability to correctly remember the nuances of delicate care while ensuring that they do not leave anything to chance. Good interpersonal skills are qualities that enable a person to develop the requisite skills necessary to bridge the gap between the patient and the doctor and to work in diverse backgrounds. Other qualities such as physical endurance enable one to develop the abilities to perform tasks that necessitate a person to stand for long hours daily when providing healthcare services (Fortinash and Holiday-Worst 6). However, it is important for those responsible for preparing those wishing to join the nursing profession to invest in further development of the attributes and personal qualities necessary for effective growth in the career. Among the areas to focus on are patience, diligence, genuine interest, and a balanced view of the profession and personal career.
Cultural competence is the ability to accept people from different ethnic backgrounds and prepare treatment plans that factor into their cultural, sexual, beliefs, and health orientations that are consistent with their practices. Duffy notes that cultural competence can be integrated into the nursing profession by creating programs that enable one to train in becoming a nurse to offer holistic care to the patient that incorporates the diverse beliefs, values, and behaviors of the patient (4). The care and treatment plan and care should reflect the patient’s unique background. In addition, those preparing to take nursing as a lifelong career should be trained to value client cultural beliefs and the numerous traditional beliefs of many patients.
On the other hand, ethical sensitivity is defined as the ability to recognize the ethical theme and practice in making decisions that reflect the morality and suffering of patients under the professional care of the nurse (Goethals, Gastmans, and de Casterlé 5). Ethical sensitivity can be integrated into the nursing profession by educating and exposing the nurses to work in a clinical environment. That enables the career nurse to develop good moral judgments and professional skills. Ethics is about right and wrong and is based on the individuality of the patient and the common agreement between the patient and the nurse (23). In theory, ethics is about acting in such a way as to promote the good of the largest number of people and alleviate the suffering of the patient, making the career nurse practice with patient-centered care.
Leadership in nursing is the ability to inspire and engage nurses to participate in the pursuit of common goals. Leadership can be made effective by ensuring mastery and competence in the tasks nurses perform. According to Stanley, leadership can be integrated into the nursing profession by creating a framework for training those in the career to develop the skills necessary to serve the patients according to the professional code of ethics (7). Here, the framework provides the foundation to develop better relationship management among the nurses. In addition, it enables those in the nursing career to be effective in time management, develops social awareness, and be able to read and understand the patient’s emotions. Time management is an important component that enables those in the career to organize, plan, prioritize, and schedule nursing activities.
Life-long learning is defined as the professional practice of developing the nurse to become a responsible person in nursing. According to Barnard, Nash, and O’Brien, continuous training, attending workshops, mentorship programs, team teaching, research, and continuing education constitute the methods that can be used to implement the concept in nursing professional practice (4).
The graduate education in nursing will impact my career goals in very important ways, which include enabling me to develop professional skills, knowledge, and experience and lead to better personal growth to deliver good quality services to the patient that could lead to greater personal satisfaction. In my profession as a nurse, education will provide the opening for greater employment opportunities besides offering better career advancements, a sense of accomplishment, recognition, and credibility.
Works Cited
Barnard, Alan G., Robyn E. Nash, and Michael O’Brien. “Information literacy: developing lifelong skills through nursing education.” Journal of Nursing Education 44.11 (2005): 505-510. Print.
Cowan, David T., Ian Norman, and Vinoda P. Coopamah. “Competence in nursing practice: a controversial concept–a focused review of literature.” Nurse education today 25.5 (2005): 355-362. Print.
Duffy, Mary E. “A critique of cultural education in nursing.” Journal of advanced Nursing 36.4 (2001): 487-495. Print.
Fortinash, Katherine M., and Patricia A. Holoday-Worret. Psychiatric mental health nursing. Mosby, 2008.Print.
Goethals, Sabine, Chris Gastmans, and Bernadette Dierckx de Casterlé. “Nurses’ ethical reasoning and behaviour: a literature review.” International Journal of Nursing Studies 47.5 (2010): 635-650. Print.
Stanley, David. “Multigenerational workforce issues and their implications for leadership in nursing.” Journal of Nursing Management 18.7 (2010): 846-852. Print.