When most new nurses think of skills and career success, they think of hands-on clinical expertise. But becoming a clinical expert is more than just developing your clinical ability; it also means building strong soft skills. Whether you’re a new or experienced nurse, understanding and strengthening your interpersonal skill set will help you grow and succeed.
Applying the interpersonal skills and theory that you learned during your nursing education to your practice can have somewhat of a steep learning curve. Specific strategies, like mentorship and seeking continuous improvement, are essential to mastering your nursing craft and promoting career advancement.
The Importance of Soft Skills for Nurses
Soft skills, also called interpersonal skills, are nonclinical skills used when interacting with patients, nurses, and others. They’re difficult to measure since they’re subjective and not tied to clinical competencies. Regardless, developing your soft skill set is crucial to success as a new nurse. Skills like nursing communication, critical thinking, and empathy lead to higher-quality patient care. Additionally, honing these can improve patient care interactions, safety, and outcomes while identifying care barriers.
Key Soft Skills for Nurses
Everyone has different strengths and weaknesses. Identifying essential interpersonal skills that can contribute to your success as a new nurse is helpful.
- Communication: Nursing communication is critical to all elements of patient care. Effective communication lays the groundwork for quality patient care, whether providing patient education or communicating with providers and coworkers. Almost all nurses use SBAR, a powerful tool for communicating with other healthcare professionals.
- Situation: Tell the person who you are and why you’re calling.
- Background: Give a quick overview of the patient.
- Assessment: Provide pertinent clinical findings, like low heart rate, blood pressure, distended abdomen, etc.
- Recommendation: Ask if they would like to give orders and suggest a possible resolution to the initial situation.
- Professionalism: Patients and healthcare employers value nurses who act professionally in all scenarios, even outside work. Maintaining professionalism instills organizational and patient trust. Dress appropriately, be positive and respectful to others, and always be on time for your shift. Notify your manager if you think you’re going to be late.
- Adaptability: New nurses must adjust and be flexible to the ever-changing health environment. Adaptability doesn’t just apply to your schedule. Be open to learning new skills, floating to different units, and caring for diverse patient populations. These can help you in the long run with career advancement opportunities.
- Teamwork: Teamwork is at the foundation of every multidisciplinary team. Understanding collaboration and each person’s contribution to the team is essential to a positive care environment. Nurse teamwork includes running patient codes, resolving possible conflicts, and welcoming new ideas.
- Empathy: Your ability to understand patients’ and families’ feelings and concerns will develop over time. Instead of being reactive or defensive if a patient voices concerns, think twice, put yourself in their shoes, and consider how you would feel. Another part of empathy is cultural sensitivity, which occurs when you seek to understand and respect cultural differences.
- Critical thinking: Both well-seasoned and new nurses constantly make critical decisions that can save patients’ lives. Approach situations logically, consider your assessment findings, and analyze data to anticipate possibilities. Developing your critical thinking skills as a new nurse comes with time and practice.
Practical Strategies to Develop Soft Skills
New nurses should aim to develop their soft skills to provide high-quality, exceptional patient care. Here are some strategies to advance your skills:
- Welcome constructive feedback. Ask for constructive feedback from your preceptor and manager. Clarify areas of improvement and how you can work on these skills. For example, to improve your communication skills with a provider, ask to practice reporting to your preceptor before calling the provider.
- Set goals. Identify and make a list of your strengths and weaknesses. Set short- and long-term goals for the skills you want to work on. You may also consider incorporating the constructive feedback you received about areas of improvement.
- Reflect on your experiences. After your shift, consider reflecting on what you learned during that day. Jot down your experiences in a journal or debrief with your mentor or preceptor. For example, if you provided patient education that you think went well, reflect on the strategies you used to deliver effective instructions. Conversely, if a patient’s condition deteriorated and you believe your communication could have been better with the provider, suggest a debrief with the healthcare team.
- Build relationships. Foster strong relationships with fellow nurses and coworkers. Consider finding a mentor to help guide your journey as a new nurse. Some hospitals and professional nursing organizations offer nurse mentorship programs.
- Consider educational courses. Consider workshops or courses to establish a better framework and understanding of soft skills. Like clinical skills, improving your interpersonal skills takes practice. Most courses offer exercises that allow you to practice your skills with others, like communication and professionalism.
Leveraging Mentorship and Feedback
Most new nurses are paired with a preceptor or mentor through a nurse mentorship program during their initial months as novice nurses. You and your mentor should cover specific topics to ensure your success during this time. Let your mentor guide you, but also consider leveraging their experience to help you succeed.
Having a mentor can help with problem-solving and improve patient care. To develop your critical thinking skills, ask them to explain why they’re doing something. For example, if they’re administering an IV pain medication instead of oral, ask why. Maybe it’s because the patient isn’t allowed to eat anything by mouth since they’re scheduled for surgery the following morning. Asking questions and seeking clarification is imperative to effective nursing communication and critical thinking.
Again, ask for constructive feedback regarding your areas of improvement. Brainstorm ideas with your mentor or preceptor about how you can work together to become successful and develop your soft skills. In turn, the mentor will also learn to use new communication techniques and skills to train the new nurse. Nurse teamwork is also enhanced since new and experienced nurses can combine their skills and strengths versus weaknesses.
Continuous Improvement and Career Advancement
Seeking continuous improvement of your clinical and interpersonal skills is necessary for experienced and new nurses. Participating in a nurse mentorship program also furthers your professional development and education. Honing these skills can open doors to new career advancement opportunities. One day, you could become a mentor or preceptor and use your expertise to train the next generation of nurses.
Author Bio
Amanda Marten, MSN, FNP-C, is a freelance nurse writer and a certified family nurse practitioner. With ten years of nursing experience, she has worked in a variety of specialties, including urgent care, travel nursing, post-surgical, and intensive care. In her free time, she enjoys gardening, outdoor activities, and spending time with her friends and family.
