Best Characteristics to Look For When Hiring Nurses
The characteristics of the nurses you hire matter to team cohesion and cultural fit, as well as patient satisfaction. Patient satisfaction scores affect reimbursement, so you can not afford to hire the right nurses for the job. But how can you recognize the suitable characteristics to fit the unique setting of your healthcare practice? Let’s review the characteristics many healthcare organizations focus on when hiring nursing staff.
What Characteristics Should You Look For When Hiring Nurses?
What Are the Top Nurse Characteristics?
1. Communication
The entire medical team needs solid communication skills to stay together. Nurses lie at the heart of this skill set, often providing the glue that holds care delivery together. Nurses offer two-way communication between patients and families, patients and doctors, and even between other clinical team members. Nurses are challenged to work with noncommunicative patients, patients with learning disabilities, and patients who are in pain and irritable. No matter their role in your organization, the number one characteristic they must have is the ability to communicate clearly in writing and verbally.
2. Empathy
Patients still look to nurses for compassion when they are afraid. Nurses that exhibit empathy can comfort patients and aid their healing process. Studies show nurses who are trained to exhibit empathy improve patient satisfaction scores while helping them heal. Empathy means that nurses listen to patients and understand where they’re coming from. They are interested and engaged in care delivery and can exhibit compassion for their patients. These nurses exhibit emotional maturity in expressing empathy at the appropriate times. They can acknowledge the feelings of patients and even staff but still get the job done. Empathetic nurses are patient, kind, and understanding but also respectful of team members and the customers they serve.
3. Problem-Solving
Troubleshooting skills are a nurse’s secret weapon. They often must use these skills to balance the needs of patients and a changing environment. Problem-solving is a skill rooted in emotional maturity; good nurses can assess the cues around them and respond quickly to a given situation to reach their goals. Nurses who are good problem solvers can look at the data around them and process fast decisions given the situation they’re dealing with. The best problem solvers in healthcare often do more with less or fix a seemingly insurmountable issue that negatively affects their patients or the team. These resourceful caregivers are critical for the ever-changing world of healthcare delivery.
How Can You Find Nurses with These Characteristics?
While these are just three characteristics found in top nurses, the question remains—how can you find nursing job candidates that exhibit these skills? The Custom Group of Companies is a leading provider of healthcare talent to some of the best clinical care providers in the country. We’ve been building our skilled nursing network for decades. If you’re seeking high-quality nurses with a track record exhibiting these characteristics, call on us. We can help.
