A healthcare career is filled with hard work, long shifts, and fulfillment. Not everyone can shine in a role that helps others each day, and unfortunately, many only find this out once they have already spent years in education. One of the simple ways to ensure you are right for a healthcare career is to see if you have the right personality to succeed, so here are the ten traits that show you would shine while working in healthcare.
1. Empathy
The ability to put on a kind face isn’t enough when it comes to healthcare. Some days, there will be so much stress that it becomes impossible to pretend to be compassionate, so it is crucial to be naturally empathetic. Empathy isn’t something that is learned easily, but it is not impossible.
When working with the vulnerable, compassion is essential, no matter how much stress you are going through. After all, the twentieth patient you see in a day will not understand why you have a negative mood, and they will expect their doctors and nurses to tend to them with patience and gentleness.
2. Communication Skills
Communication skills are needed at almost all moments of the day in many healthcare roles, so you must know how to communicate efficiently. If you are confident in your speech, able to relay information concisely, and know-how to change your manner depending on who you are speaking to – you should consider a role in healthcare. Not only must healthcare workers communicate with their co-workers using the correct terminology, but they must also provide an excellent bedside manner.
3. A Love of Learning
To be able to help those that are unwell, you must have a lot of knowledge, and this means engaging in ongoing education. Qualifications are just the beginning, so if you are opposed to filling up your brain with excess knowledge, then healthcare may not be the career path for you.
If you are a lover of education, there are many courses to take, such as becoming a family nurse practitioner. The road might involve attaining many qualifications, but the outcome is a long and fulfilling career in healthcare. Follow this link to find out more about the benefits of becoming an FNP.
4. Passion
When your motivation and drive runs low, passion must drive you. People who enter a healthcare role based on motivators such as money find that their determination quickly wavers, and they are left with an unfulfilling career.
To truly excel in healthcare, you must have a genuine passion for helping others. This means you wake up each morning proud to be going to a job where you provide medical services to those who need it most. While other factors will motivate you, this should be your passion at heart.
5. Professionalism
Both patients and co-workers expect a level of professionalism from all healthcare workers. The amount of responsibility that comes with working in healthcare means you must stay competent at all moments of the day. Whether you are working with the mildly poorly or those in intensive care, being professional is a must.
6. Humbleness
While it’s also helpful to be confident in what you do, you should also have a certain level of humbleness. Nobody working in healthcare knows everything, not the person who has just started, nor the person who has thirty years of experience under their belt. Each day, new experiences bring healthcare workers new knowledge, and it’s important to welcome it with open arms.
Being humble means admitting to when you’re incorrect and accepting help when you need it most. This is particularly important in a healthcare career as the stakes are so high – there is no room for false confidence. If you are open to ongoing education and can openly admit when you need an extra hand, then you have a trait that would shine in a healthcare career.
7. Organization Skills
Many healthcare roles come with a variety of tasks to complete each day, so you must be highly organized. Time management, the ability to prioritize, and decision making are all skills you will need to thrive in a healthcare career.
When the day becomes overloaded, it helps to keep a notebook with a list of tasks in order of priority. Those who are organized do better at keeping on top of their work, and when vulnerable people are relying on you, this is crucial.
8. Patience
In many ways, the skills needed to work with children are similar to those needed to work in healthcare. Patience is necessary for working with patients, especially those who are extremely vulnerable. There will be days where you work with someone who does not listen, someone who takes a long time to understand what you are saying, or someone who cannot communicate. In healthcare, this is normal, and you must be able to deal with that.
Not everyone has the right level of patience to deal with patients properly, so if you do, then you could use that special skill to help those who are most vulnerable.
9. Caring for Yourself
Healthcare workers cannot just focus on helping others; they must also have the ability to care for themselves. This is because working in healthcare requires energy and positivity, and both of those disappear if you don’t get enough sleep, eat a healthy diet, and exercise enough.
Engaging in self-care and living a healthy lifestyle makes for a more successful career. If you understand the importance of looking after your body and mind, you will be more likely to thrive in a stressful role.
10. Intelligence
Working in healthcare means knowing a lot about the medical world and humans as a whole. Due to this, many healthcare roles require a high level of intelligence, especially the more specialized areas such as surgeons or radiotherapists. If you have a knack for science and the human body, then you could use that natural intelligence to excel in a healthcare career.