Being a nurse is a tough job, any healthcare professional will tell you that, but just because it’s a difficult role it doesn’t mean that your levels of care should ever drop. Even though every nurse will have their own specific areas of excellence, there is always a way that you can improve on your standards of care.
Caring for others means more than serving them dinner or giving them a bed bath. It means taking extra time to listen to them, respecting their choices, and helping them to understand how they influence others. It’s easy to pass over these situations but it is not only important that you address them, but vital in regard to your nursing career.
Setting Standards for Your Organization
As a nurse, you will have many standards that you need to put into place. These could be standards that you use on your own, within the hospital, or in your community. The ability to communicate these standards to colleagues and patients is an important step toward ensuring they are met.
It’s important that everyone in your sphere of care understands what is expected from them, as well as from the organization itself. If this process is not carried out effectively, there is little chance of the standards being met.
Make sure that in addition to setting them for yourself, you also set them for others who work with you and with your patients. It’s vital that these are communicated at all levels of care to ensure they are achieved.
Education Improves Standards
Nursing education is really the area at which a higher quality of care standards can be influenced. Pupils will not be able to take on the role of a nurse if they have never received adequate training.
To make sure that those who are educating others in nursing are aiming to improve standards, they need to think about new ways in which this can be done.
This should include a higher level of understanding of the nurse’s job as well as more time spent on teaching techniques and developing new skills.
With more advanced degrees, like the MSN-FNP program at TWU, nurses have the opportunity to learn about care in different settings. Regardless of the level of education you have, more time spent in school should help to raise standards.
It’s important that this time is spent on acquiring more knowledge about your patients and their conditions. It is also necessary to use this time to learn about other aspects of nursing that could improve your standards.
Tips & Strategies for Improving Nurse-Patient Interaction
Nurses often seem so stressed, but it’s also a rewarding job; especially if you want to enjoy yourself while doing it.
If that sounds like you, here are some tips and ideas for improving your standards of care.
Build In Trust
When a patient trusts their nurse with the information they need to share, they can be in a much more relaxed and comfortable state.
However, trust doesn’t just happen, you have to make it happen.
Start with communicating with them, with your voice and your body language. Show them that you are trustworthy by being kind and patient. This can boost their confidence in you, too!
Give Them Space
Patients want to feel like they have control over certain areas of their lives when they’re in a hospital setting. That includes the ability to choose who visits them (when and where) so giving them this autonomy is a big deal for them.
Don’t hover over every little thing that they do as a way of overseeing things or checking on their progress; this will make them uncomfortable and unhappy about the whole situation.
Accept That They May Not Want Help
Sometimes, a patient may be content to do things on their own. Let them choose what they want to accomplish and how they want to go about it.
Offer to help, but don’t push them into making a decision.
Making Sure They Feel Comfortable is Key
A patient’s physical discomfort can also increase their anxiety levels, which makes them feel uneasy as well.
Make sure that you are doing all you can to help them feel comfortable.
When they are comfortable and relaxed, they can devote their energy to healing faster and better!
Your Communication Means Everything
Break down the barriers that surround talking about emotions and mental health with your patient.
Don’t make this a big deal; just casually throw in phrases like “you look like you have a lot on your mind” or “this must be hard for you”.
Try to show that you care about how they are doing with things other than medical issues. This will help them feel more at ease around you.