For nurses, having to stay calm and collected in fast-paced environments is an everyday experience. While many nurses are admirably stoic in their roles, factors such as stress, chaotic situations, and an overwhelming number of stimuli can make providing exceptional care to patients difficult.
Thankfully, there are tactics that nurses can take advantage of to streamline processes and become more effective in their roles. Being aware of some key practices can help any nurse grow as a medical professional and reach their full potential.
Here are five effective tactics nurses can use to optimize better patient care.
Stay Current with Changing Industry Practices
In the realm of healthcare management, staying current with changing industry practices is an essential part of leading effectively and ensuring that patients receive the best possible care. For nurses, the case is no different, and being aware of new, innovative, and shifting practices can increase one’s ability to treat and care for patients.
As we move deeper into the future, new techniques and technologies are sure to arise in the healthcare realm. Nurses’ intent on providing the best care to their patients can optimize their processes by being knowledgeable about new insights in the field.
The more studying one does outside of work, the less of a learning curve there will be when new practices or technologies are introduced into a healthcare facility. This means that no patient will have to experience subpar care while one adjusts to new innovations in the healthcare space, making one a better and more prepared nurse.
Take Advantage of Mobile Health
Mobile health can be described as the practice of utilizing mobile technology, such as smartphones, for health-related activities. Examples of mobile health include using social media to spread awareness about a disease, having an appointment with a physician over the phone, and utilizing health-related mobile apps.
In regard to healthcare professionals, a plethora of nursing-related apps has become available to assist one in a variety of ways. Some apps help nurses trade shifts and address scheduling needs, others act as a resource if nurses need to brush up on a specific ailment, while others are even designed to help nurses avoid burnout.
By taking advantage of these apps, nurses will be in a better position to manage their time and tasks, stay knowledgeable about diseases, and avoid becoming overly stressed and overwhelmed. The utilization of these apps will result in nurses being able to focus more on providing excellent care to their patients rather than other activities associated with nursing.
Be Sensitive to Each Patient’s Individual Background
A key aspect in providing care to patients is making a patient feel comfortable and cared for. Unfortunately, healthcare workers aren’t always invested in specific patients’ backgrounds and cultural needs. In order to provide the best care possible, nurses can improve their efficacy by making it a point to be sensitive to each patient’s background.
People from various cultures may have different ideas of what is appropriate and what is not. If a nurse unknowingly says something offensive, patients will likely feel anxious and less comfortable. To avoid this, gaining an understanding of various cultural norms can make it easier to connect with patients and make them feel cared for.
Beyond culture, showing patients that one is invested in their care can potentially help change health outcomes. When patients feel like those treating them truly care, they’ll be more likely to heed instructions and suggestions that help them to heal.
Accordingly, any nurse intent on providing patients with better care can do so by practicing being more sensitive to each individual patient’s background.
Improve Communication Skills
While communication skills may not seem like the most important skill for a healthcare worker to have, it can actually have a profound effect on a nurse’s ability to do their jobs effectively. If a nurse is a poor communicator, it can cause a number of problems and possibly even lead to negatively impacted patient outcomes.
Whether it’s conversing about a procedure with doctors, coordinating rounds with other nurses, or explaining the differences between inpatient and outpatient care to a patient, if a nurse is unable to communicate clearly, others may misinterpret what they say. As such, nurses can improve their effectiveness by improving their communication skills and becoming better at accurately expressing themselves.
If patients aren’t clear on what a nurse is telling them, they may unknowingly engage in behaviors or actions that can adversely impact their health. In addition, if a nurse experiencing stress and burnout isn’t clear with their leader, they may be given too many shifts which results in them providing subpar care to patients.
Given the profound impact that communication has on a nurse’s ability to perform their job well, any nurse intent on improving their efficacy should focus on improving their communication skills.
Engage in Teamwork
For patients, nurses are often the primary medical professionals that they communicate with. As such, how well others are able to treat a specific patient is dependent on how well nurses communicate with others about a patient’s concerns. This means that engaging in more teamwork can help nurses ensure that the patients they treat will experience better health outcomes.
Sometimes, it’s natural if one feels like they want to be independent and prove themselves as a valuable asset in the workplace. Unfortunately, nurses who engage in this type of behavior can unknowingly compromise the care that patients receive as a result of wanting to prove that they can accomplish more on their own.
Making it a point to prioritize teamwork and share any insights with one’s peers can help nurses provide the best possible care to patients in an optimized fashion. This being the case, teamwork should be a skill that nurses intent on improving their skills and efficacy should strive to improve.
Nurses Have the Ability to Improve Their Capabilities
As the world becomes more fast-paced and new changes are appearing almost daily, it’s important for nurses to be aware of some key tactics to help them excel in their roles. By staying current with changing industry practices, taking advantage of mobile health, being sensitive to patient backgrounds, improving communication skills, and engaging in teamwork, nurses can optimize better patient care and become more effective in their roles.
Though being a nurse can be demanding at times, engaging in these key practices will make it easier to thrive and find success as a healthcare professional.