There are many nursing qualifications to meet as you pursue a career as an RN. To apply to nursing school, for example, you’ll need to meet admission requirements. In school, you’ll develop both clinical skills and soft skills. Some critical nurse characteristics include empathy, compassion, leadership, adaptability, and emotional resilience.
Nurses use many clinical skills, such as taking vital signs, making assessments, administering medications, or providing wound care. They also must demonstrate empathy and compassion and display professionalism, all while juggling many different tasks and patients. In other words, nursing qualifications go beyond clinical skills; they also encompass soft skills and personal qualities.
You can work on developing the key qualities of a nurse at Concordia University, St. Paul’s Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN) program. With a curriculum that can be completed in as few as 16 months, you can get started in the nursing field sooner while benefiting from a robust education that emphasizes important nursing characteristics.
While attending CSP Global’s Accelerated BSN program, think about the important qualities needed to become an effective nurse, as well as the academic and licensure qualifications. Then, consider how you can actively work on cultivating essential soft skills.
The Qualifications You Need to Become a Nurse
Once you’ve decided to pursue a career as a nurse, you’ll need to assess which nursing qualifications you already have and which you’ll need to obtain. An admissions advisor at CSP Global can review your unofficial transcripts to determine your eligibility for the ABSN program. The requirements include:
- A completed non-nursing degree or a minimum of 54 non-nursing college credit hours with a cumulative GPA of 3.0
- A minimum GPA of 3.0 on combined science prerequisites
- A passed criminal background check and drug screen
- A minimum score of 65% on the ATI Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS)
- Completed prerequisites with grade C or higher
- Demonstrated English language proficiency
Essential Nurse Characteristics for Providing Excellent Care
There are dozens of soft skills that are helpful to nurses. Each can help a nurse relate to patients, serve as a better advocate, and collaborate to draw out the best in other nurses. Some key nursing characteristics include:
1. Passion
For most prospective nursing students, the goal to pursue a career in nursing stems from a calling. While you may have shared this calling with your advisor in the admissions process, it’s crucial that you carry it with you throughout your nursing school journey and beyond. Write down your reasons for wanting to become a nurse. This will help you stay focused throughout your nursing school journey.
2. Self-Discipline
Online coursework will grant you the freedom to create your own schedule and learn core nursing concepts around the clock. Succeeding with a hybrid approach, however, requires self-discipline so that you can meet all deadlines. Similarly, you’ll need self-discipline throughout your nursing career so that you can ensure each patient under your care receives the attention they need.
3. Teamwork
Teamwork is essential for nursing students and RNs. For example, during a lab, you may have to work with your classmates to solve complex patient care scenarios. This will require you to treat your simulated patient. Throughout the simulation, it’s important that you communicate effectively and work with your fellow cohort members as a team.
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4. Empathy and Compassion
All patients deserve empathetic, compassionate care. Empathy and compassion support the development of rapport with your patients, and they are essential nurse characteristics that build trusting relationships with patients. The more your patients are able to trust you, the more engaged they will be with their own care and the more likely they will be to follow treatment recommendations.
5. Leadership and World View
Throughout the ABSN program at CSP Global, you will be immersed in the biblical teachings and philosophies of Martin Luther. These teachings will inspire you to ask tough questions, see the world’s needs through a different lens, and equip you with the leadership qualities needed to get the most from your nursing education.
6. Communication Skills
All nurses need strong verbal, written, and nonverbal communication skills, in addition to active listening skills. It’s necessary for nurses to interact frequently with their fellow nurses and other providers, as well as with patients and their family members. Nurses need to be able to communicate clearly and professionally with people from a wide range of backgrounds and varying education levels.
7. Commitment to Lifelong Learning
One of the many reasons why healthcare is such an exciting field is that new advancements are constantly being made. That’s why a commitment to lifelong learning is one of the most important nursing qualifications. Nurses need to complete continuing education hours in most states to maintain their license, and they need to stay on top of the latest developments in their area of specialization.
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8. Professionalism and Ethical Decision Making
Nurses need unwavering professionalism and ethical decision-making skills. Above all, nurses need to have a genuine concern for the well-being of their patients, and they need to prioritize their patients’ best interests when making decisions. There are many discrete components of professionalism and ethics, including:
- Collaboration
- Commitment to the patient’s autonomy and best interests
- Integrity
- Lifelong learning
- Patient advocacy
- Respect for the dignity of all people
- Responsibility to promote health and safety
- Social justice
9. Adaptability
Healthcare environments change rapidly, and so do the needs of patients, particularly in settings like the emergency room. Aspiring nurses need to be able to juggle competing priorities and be willing to adjust their work schedules at a moment’s notice.
10. Emotional Resilience
Emotional resilience is another important nurse characteristic. Emotional resilience can help you cope with stressful situations, like losing a patient or dealing with a difficult family member. With emotional resilience, you can reduce your risk of professional burnout.
Developing the Skills and Qualities of a Nurse for Long-Term Success
Developing essential nurse characteristics doesn’t happen automatically; it’s something that you need to intentionally cultivate through practice. There are many ways to go about proactively cultivating your nursing qualifications. Try the following steps to get started:
- Practice mindfulness meditation to develop emotional resilience. If you have trouble getting started on your own, look for a mindfulness meditation workshop or online class.
- To improve your communication skills, form a study group with other students in your cohort. Take turns roleplaying different patient care scenarios, with one student acting as the patient and another the nurse. When it’s your turn to roleplay an RN, focus on maintaining positive, open body language and asking open-ended questions that use simple language.
- Work on your ethical decision-making skills by reading case studies and reflecting on the ethical issues at play in those scenarios. Talk to your nursing instructors about challenging ethical situations and how nurses should respond to them.
- Take the opportunity to strengthen your empathy and compassion in everyday interactions with others. Think about situations from the point of view of others and consider how a situation might affect people of different backgrounds.
How Education and Training Prepares You for a Nursing Career
Concordia University, St. Paul’s ABSN program provides practical, applied training to prepare you for your nursing career. You’ll take courses in topics like applied pathophysiology and pharmacology. You’ll learn to assess patients, administer medications, give vaccinations, and operate medical equipment.
Beyond teaching the clinical skills of nursing, the curriculum of our ABSN program is also designed to cultivate soft skills. You’ll dive into nursing leadership skills, such as communication and accountability. During clinical learning experiences, you’ll have chances to build rapport with patients, demonstrate empathy and compassion, and show commitment to continual learning. After you graduate, you’ll continue to improve your clinical and soft skills as a professional RN.
Are You Ready to Get Started?
If you believe you have the qualities of a nurse or are willing to develop them, you can get started in your new career quickly with CSP Global’s ABSN program. Choose from three start dates per year and graduate in as few as 16 months after completing any needed prerequisites. We offer immersive, applied nursing education infused with Christian principles so that you can graduate ready to take the NCLEX and tackle modern challenges in the nursing workplace.
Contact an admissions advisor today and get started!