Nursing is no easy task. It’s physically and mentally challenging. Therefore, nurses must learn to develop and maintain positive ways of thinking to overcome difficult shifts and make a difference. When nurses feel confident about what they do, it can stimulate their cognitive ability and desire to function at their best. In fact, a Science Daily study reveals positivity is essential for providing exceptional patient care.
However, before you can develop an unwavering outlook toward nursing, you must first understand the characteristics that budding nurses have to embrace to set the foundation for a successful career. Understanding and honing these early allows you to cultivate them while you navigate complex healthcare environments.
Staying resilient amidst challenges
The healthcare environment is ever-changing, and the challenges it presents can genuinely test a nurse’s tenacity. However, in unique situations, nurses get through challenges and shine because of it.
It begs the question how these nurses manage to become so stoic when things do not go their way. You might chalk it up to their years of experience or uncanny ability to process significant changes, and in some ways, you might be right. Experience is a skill you cannot teach, after all.
A skill that can learned, though, is resilience. As a new nurse, you must learn to bounce back and cope successfully despite substantial adversity. When you are resilient, you can better deal with job-related frustrations and emotional distress while managing any challenges with an open mind.
Although there is some natural resilience in everyone, nurses must work hard to develop and maintain it. Several ways for budding nurses to build and maintain adaptive resilience include the following.
Maintain a work-life balance: Work-life balance is a phrase that gets thrown around a lot in healthcare circles, and for a good reason. When nurses can maintain an excellent work-life balance, they can invest sufficient time and energy in nurturing meaningful relationships. By maintaining strong social connections, nurses can gain a sound support system during challenging times, enhancing their resilience.
Nurture yourself: Nurses often focus on caring for others at their own expense. Sometimes, without realizing, nurses may work long shifts without water, food, or bathroom breaks. On the surface, this seems exceptional, and it is, but it can do more harm than good. When nurses cannot take care of themselves, it can impair their ability to provide optimal care and can result in decreased job performance. Conversely, nurses who nurture themselves by engaging in self-care activities are more likely to be healthy holistically and, therefore, more resilient.
Build your social network: Nursing is emotionally taxing, especially when you encounter stressful situations and deal with life-and-death decisions. A strong support network can offer coping strategies and a safe space where you can share experiences, gather support during challenging times, and achieve your professional goals.
When new nurses develop workplace resilience, they can navigate the murky waters of change – a given in this fast-paced healthcare industry – and remain positive regardless of the situation. This ultimately leads to improved team dynamics, reduced stress and burnout, better problem-solving, and enhanced patient care.
Seek for continuous training opportunities
As mentioned above, nursing is a continuously-evolving industry. So, if you stop learning from the time you graduate from university, there’s a good chance you’ll never adapt to emerging healthcare changes, which seem to happen more quickly than one would hope.
By seeking opportunities for continuous training, budding nurses can stay abreast with the latest trends, especially in the specific domains and specialties of their interests. For example, if you are interested in the latest advancements within geriatric nursing, then studying for gerontology nurse practitioner programs online at Wilkes University will provide you with an opportunity to learn additional skills and better nursing practices. Doing so allows you to enhance your professional competence and better perform existing job duties.
In addition to further study, you can also try the following opportunities to maintain your nursing credentials, strengthen your existing clinical skills, and adapt quickly to technological advances in the industry.
Attend nursing conferences: Nursing conferences provide opportunities for new nurses to expand their knowledge, learn about the latest advancements in nursing practice, and earn continuing education credits required for certification and licensure renewal. Several nursing conferences that can bolster a budding nurse’s career include the Advanced Nursing Conference, the Family Nurse Conference, and the Global Nursing Education Conference.
Pursue specialty certifications: The importance of certifications in a field as competitive as nursing is too hard to ignore. Sometimes, it can spell the difference between landing your dream job in particular job markets and specialties and missing the opportunity. By pursuing specialty certifications, you can show your ability to fully invest in providing your patients with the best care possible while demonstrating superior clinical competence. Depending on your specialization, organizations that offer certifications are the Pediatric Nursing Board, the American Association of Nurse Practitioners, and the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
Get a mentor: This may seem like a ball coming out of left field compared to the previously-suggested options, but getting a nursing mentor can be essential in helping budding nurses navigate the professional and social dynamics of the industry. More often than not, nursing mentors have the necessary experience to provide you with a comprehensive understanding of how the business of healthcare works and how you can take advantage of it to advance your career. Doing so lessens the likelihood of making costly errors.
Beyond the practical benefits, continuous learning empowers nurses to feel more confident and fulfilled in their work. This allows them to take on new challenges, such as working in specialized healthcare areas, or become better leaders with the ability to influence healthcare policy, practice, and research.
Strong commitment to patient-centered care
Patient-centered care is no longer just a trendy phrase within nursing circles. As patient experience becomes the sole focus of healthcare delivery, budding nurses must learn to promote complete and balanced care approaches by addressing multiple health issues and considering the interconnected nature of their patient’s physical, emotional, and social well-being.
When budding nurses are equipped with the skills necessary to deliver patient-centered care, they can improve patient satisfaction and health outcomes. Data shows over 60% of American patients received patient-centered care and appropriate emotional help from their care providers in 2022. A separate PubMed Central study reveals that patient-centered care was associated with fewer diagnostic tests, improved emotional health, and better patient recovery.
This is because patient-centered care emphasizes individual patient preferences, values, and needs while promoting a more empathetic and collaborative relationship between nursing care providers. By involving patients in healthcare decisions and considering their preferences, you can ensure they adhere to their treatment plans and remain more upfront with you. When patients feel heard and respected, you can establish a more positive and trusting relationship, ultimately resulting in desirable medical outcomes.
Patient-centered care approaches encompass several methods that consider the individual’s overall well-being. Some of the patient-centered care approaches budding nurses must learn are discussed below.
One-on-one counseling
Nursing counseling empowers budding nurses to focus on the patient’s experiences, preferences, and needs. Through effective individual counseling, you can establish open and honest communication to create trust and rapport with your patients.
This increases the likelihood of patients being more inclined to become more upfront with their feelings and emotions when dealing with a medical issue. When patients can address the psychological aspects of their illnesses, nurses can encourage positive emotional and mental well-being while increasing the likelihood of quicker physical recovery from medical treatments, diseases, and surgeries.
Consider the patient’s social and cultural beliefs
Contrary to popular belief, patient-centered care does not only tackle the absence of an illness. It is also associated with cultural awareness, diversity, and inclusivity. Through a culturally-competent care approach, new nurses can work toward reducing healthcare disparities, which are currently impacting America.
As per the Veterans Health Administration, Americans have distinct experiences in the healthcare system, even when they have similar healthcare conditions and medical coverage. This is because most healthcare providers cannot recognize the patient’s cultural differences, ultimately resulting in subpar and low-quality care. When new nurses can deliver culturally=competent care, they can slowly break down the barriers that get in the way of patients receiving the care they need.
However, it is worth noting that patient-centered care does not happen overnight and takes plenty of trial and error, especially for new nurses. But when you can master this skill and stay committed to patient-centered care, you can effectively target the crux of an issue and promote more effective and sustainable health outcomes.
Maintain a positive attitude
Maintaining a positive attitude as a nurse can seem like a losing battle. After all, working in healthcare exposes you to challenging situations, complex cases, emotional demands, and ethical dilemmas. But once you find your rhythm and master the power of positivity, you can achieve and maintain high productivity levels.
According to PubMed Central, maintaining a positive attitude in healthcare environments can reduce hospital readmissions, mortalities, and hospital-acquired infection rates. While new challenges are constantly emerging in today’s healthcare environments, positivity can encourage budding nurses to listen and learn from each other so that together they can overcome even the most challenging situations.
Ultimately, the question is what it takes to maintain a positive attitude in the fast-paced and noisy healthcare industry. Of course, you can always pop your headphones out and listen to a motivational podcast or playlist before you head to work. But let’s face it: rousing words or tunes can only take you so far. What you need are the following strategies to create an actionable plan to stay positive and cope with the difficulties effectively.
Identify and acknowledge your emotions
As a nurse, you may have suppressed your emotions from time to time while in the field. And who could blame you? After all, you need to maintain professionalism in challenging situations.
On the surface, this might seem like a good thing. Not letting your emotions dictate patient care can improve healthcare outcomes. But when you suppress your feelings for far too long, you run the risk of burnout, anxiety, more stress, and frustration. On the flip side, when you acknowledge and process your emotions using effective techniques such as journaling and meditation, you can gain perspective and find solutions to the challenges you are facing.
Focus on what you can control
Budding nurses often succumb to the superhero complex, wherein they find themselves doing too much and focusing on what they cannot control. For example, nurses often encounter situations such as patient adherence to treatment plans or systemic medical issues.
Concentrating excessively on these factors can lead to feelings of burnout and powerlessness. Moreover, it can lead to decreased morale and impede their ability to adapt to changing circumstances and find creative solutions to complex problems. By focusing on what you can control, you increase empowerment and confidence in your duties and prioritize tasks that directly impact patient outcomes.
Reframe your thoughts and beliefs
The way you think and believe about yourself, your work, and your challenges can impact your attitude and behavior. By reframing your thoughts and beliefs realistically, you can cope with stress, bolster your motivation, and improve optimism.
For example, you can replace negative self-talk with positive affirmations, acknowledge weaknesses as things you need to improve and viewing challenges as opportunities for growth. By changing how you perceive and interpret situations, you can address issues effectively and approach workplace stressors with a calmer and more-composed well-being.
Working toward a meaningful nursing career
Becoming a nurse does not end once you earn your degree and pass the National Council Licensure Examination. It is a lifelong process that requires continuous learning, a strong commitment, resilience, and a positive outlook toward challenges.
