Working in the healthcare industry is an incredible achievement. Contributing your efforts to a community that brings light to people’s lives and expands medical discoveries is undeniably an extremely honorable and admirable feat.
Of course, professionals must earn formal education and obtain the necessary credentials to partake in this rewarding career. However, merely being good on papers and acquiring high grades isn’t always enough. Instead, a successful healthcare career requires more than technical skills and clinical knowledge.
The professionals of this field experience traumatic and distressing events, work for extended hours, and carry huge responsibilities. And in today’s high-touched and fast-paced healthcare environments, collaboration is of paramount importance to assist patients in accomplishing their health goals. Therefore, healthcare professionals must arm themselves with the essential skills to tackle challenges head-on and leverage opportunities that may crop in the future.
Besides, healthcare organizations are now paying the same attention to soft skills as academic credentials. So, if healthcare is the field that piques your interest and you are ready to dive into it, then start tending the valuable soft skills.
In this article, we’ll shed light on some of the crucial skills that you must imbibe to become a successful healthcare professional and catch the eyes of employers:
Adaptability
If there’s one variable in the healthcare sector that always remains constant, it’s “change.” From healthcare policies and legislations to new healthcare practices and scientific studies, everything changes time and again. So, try to be a person who rides with the healthcare industry’s tidal waves.
Additionally, one other thing that doesn’t count as a skill but hones the existing skillset and strengthens the candidate’s profile is formal education. For instance, being a registered nurse, you may work in time-crunched and competitive work settings, which will require you to showcase advanced healthcare skills. Therefore, you can grow your career in nursing with a BSN to expand the principles that compelled you to step your foot in the nursing profession. A BSN degree gives you a leg up in your career as it polishes the hard skills, refines the soft ones, and makes you eligible to work for specialized job roles.
Attention to detail
Nowadays, healthcare organizations are in quest of professionals that possess a unique blend of technical and soft skills. Why? Because people always remember healthcare facilities for the services they provide and how good they made them feel during their tough times. As a result, this affects the ratings of healthcare organizations. Thus, to become a valuable healthcare team member, paying close attention to every minute detail is imperative.
Healthcare is a detail-oriented industry. The sheer volume of data that healthcare organization encompasses is massive. And the greater the amount of data, the more chances of mistakes flying under the radar. Specifically, some critical details are likely to fall through the cracks during hectic work routines as you may get scatterbrained.
So, try to be meticulous during every process. Whether it is managing paperwork, maintaining patient records, administering medicines, or following safety measures, being detail-oriented is mission-critical.
Communication
While communication skills are vital for every profession, they become even more indispensable for healthcare. That’s because patients put their health and safety in the hands of healthcare practitioners and entrust them with their services.
No matter which healthcare professional role you opt for, you will have to communicate with various people. These may include patients, their family members, your colleagues, other staff members. That implies you need to acclimatize your personality according to every audience.
Therefore, work on your speaking and listening skills. Listen intently to patients’ concerns and try to explain the medical jargon in a way that makes sense. Also, make them understand what a chart means, describe the test results, answer the questions clearly and concisely to avoid misunderstandings.
Moreover, communication also comprises excellent written skills. Sometimes, healthcare practitioners have to work more than 12 hours. During the back and forth of morning and night shifts, the medical records may get disheveled and misplaced. Therefore, always write clear-cut documents and prepare accurate reports.
Empathy
Empathy is arguably one of the much-needed skills for healthcare workers. This skill plays an integral role in enhancing patient outcomes and improving community health.
As a healthcare professional, you will often encounter emotionally challenging circumstances. In situations like these, you must possess the ability to put yourself in the patient’s shoes, specifically during vulnerable moments. That way, you can get an accurate understanding of your patient’s sufferings. And you can better come up with strategies to make the person feel more comfortable.
Compassionate healthcare staff will try their best to improve the patient experience. And this, in turn, will uphold the positive reputation of the healthcare organization. However, empathy doesn’t only apply to patients. It also proves worthwhile while working with other healthcare members.
Time management
As a healthcare worker, you wear multiple hats. Your job might get hectic at times, and you may feel that time flies. Also, there will be times when you will have to cater to several situations at once. So, you must know how to prioritize the tasks and triage pressing issues.
Time management is of utmost importance when working in a profession where you have to deal with sick patients regularly. That’s because lives are at stake. A slight miscalculation of time on your part can endanger the patients’ lives.
Therefore, think about how to manage time strategically. Are you good at establishing goals and achieving them in the defined timeframe? What will you do if you have conflicting priorities? Pondering over these questions can help you keep tabs on your time at work. Moreover, mastering the art of time management not only boosts your productivity at the workplace. It also increases the patient’s chance of survival.
Final Words
The healthcare field is continually evolving; new technological advancements and healthcare practices supposedly emerge every other day. According to BLS, the industry will likely grow by 16% by 2030, adding approximately 2.6 million jobs for aspiring professionals. While this is undoubtedly exciting news for freshly minted graduates, you must possess the essential employability skills to set yourself ahead and be the best pick for employers.
However, when evaluating the soft skills required for the healthcare field, first, you must appraise the skills you already possess. For instance, maybe you know how to communicate effectively but don’t know the art of managing time. Or perhaps you have an optimistic attitude and can address criticism positively but lack empathy.
Remember, cultivating skills is an ongoing process, and it should stretch throughout your professional life. The correct use of skills not only develops productive healthcare team members. It also builds a conducive environment that delivers high-quality care.
