Every job requires a mix of hard and soft skills. Hard skills are job-specific. If you’re a software developer, you must be able to write code; if you’re a carpenter, you must know how to use a hammer. Soft skills we bring to every job. Adaptability. Critical thinking. And communication.
Nursing demands a balance of hard and soft skills like few other jobs; none is more important than communication. Patients need to be heard, healed, and understood; neither set of skills lets you address all three. Setting a cast is only half your challenge as a nurse; explaining to the teen whose ankle is broken that there’ll be no more skateboarding this summer is the other half.
What makes communication skills so important for nurses? Let’s explore this question in detail
The anatomy of a great communicator
Communication is fluid, intangible, and subjective. But it can still be measured. Great communicators share common qualities; here are a few that will make any nurse a great communicator.
You prefer to listen
Think of that friend who sits and listens to you rant about your latest dating mishap, then offers crystal advice you wish you’d thought of yourself. Good communicators listen more than they speak. And listen attentively. Asking patients the right questions is the first step to helping them; listening well is how you find those questions.
You know it’s not all verbal
A baby smiling. The posture of a quarterback seconds after a nail-biting loss. Your father’s silence the first time you came home late from a high school party. We say a lot without saying anything. As a nurse, you must be sensitive to non-verbal cues, like body language and facial expressions. Patients are often unable or unwilling to communicate verbally; connecting and interacting in other ways is critical to your success in nursing.
You prize context
Let’s return to the teen skater. While they’re still coming to terms with the situation—and the pain—their mom stands cross-armed awaiting your instructions. The moment demands clear, concise communication; anything less and you risk patient and parent misunderstanding. And in hospitals and clinics, there’s too much at stake for everyone not to be on the same page. Understand context and your communication will cut through every time.
You value humor
Understanding context is knowing when to interact with humor. A well-timed joke can settle the mood of many; in the often-grim ward environment, it can work wonders. Knowing how to communicate with humor is particularly effective for pediatric nurses. Child patients are often overwhelmed by what’s going on and can’t grasp the complexity of why they’re in the hospital. If you can make them laugh—or at least smile—while you treat them, it can help relax their brave little hearts.
You’re brave
Easy interactions are rare in nursing—every shift has the potential to turn sad and tragic. If it does, you must communicate with courage. It’s not about making things better, it’s about making things clearer. Excessive reassurance means little to someone with terminal cancer; they need essential details and nothing more.
It’s not about communicating without emotion, either. Delivering tough news with warmth and composure will do more than you think for those receiving the news.
Why communication skills are essential for nursing
Some jobs require little communication; a truck driver, for instance. Not nursing. From the moment you don your scrubs, communication will inform every decision you make.
Complex environment
To a newly graduated nurse, a hospital can seem like an impenetrable maze. Strong communication will help you navigate this maze. Every ward treats a certain kind of patient and every ward has its own rules and ways of doing things. The better your interactions in these environments, the better job you’ll do.
Complex stakeholders
Your stakeholder engagement will be high on every nursing shift, there’s no avoiding it. On the internal side, you have doctors, specialists, care workers, and case workers; on the external side, you have patients, parents, and legal guardians. Mix the sides and you’ll often end up with an atmosphere as temperamental as a hurricane, shifting intensity without rhyme, reason, or consideration. As a nurse, you have to be ready.
Complex timelines
Nothing influences communication more than urgency. One minute, paramedics are briefing you on a car crash victim, the next you’re comforting someone’s grandfather after he slipped in the shower and bruised his hip. Adapting your communication to suit each interaction will ensure the right treatment happens now, and not later.
How can nurses develop their communication skills?
By developing them early. Whether you graduated last week or enrolled this week in one of the many online accelerated BSN programs, the earlier you start working on your communication, the better. Nursing is brilliant for this. It’s a job that won’t let you hide from communication.
As a nurse, you can get by on the bare minimum of communication needed for the job or you can set yourself apart from the rest. Here are a few ways to do the latter.
Remember the patient
If a patient is mentally disabled or unable to speak, it’s easy to focus all your attention on the carer. Yes, they need to know what needs to happen moving forward, but not at the expense of your patient becoming a figure in the background.
Next time you find yourself in a situation like this, make eye contact with your patient while gently touching their hand. Even though you might be speaking with the patient’s mom standing next to you, the gesture will show both that you care. And there’s no better currency in nursing than trust.
Become bilingual
Around 23% of the US population is bilingual—approx. 76 million people speak more than one language. If you’re one of these people, wonderful. If you’re not, there are worse skills to learn in your spare time. Language is powerful. It’s a connecting force like no other. Even if you haven’t got the time or capacity to properly learn a language, knowing a few common greetings and responses can help build trust with patients from the community who speak that language.
Consult the experts
Pretending you have the answer will do your patient no favors. Nor will it help your communication. Admitting when you’re out of your depth is a sign you’re a strong communicator, so take advantage of expert advice any chance you get. Speaking with speech and occupational therapists can greatly inform your communication with patients. These professionals deal with long, complex patient recoveries; even the small piece of advice imparted can elevate your communication.
Communication is like any other skill; you develop it with patience, persistence, and an open mind. Nursing is the ideal job for developing your communication; its variety and diversity mean you’ll never experience the same scenario twice. Given that nursing is a job that demands continuous learning, as your skill set grows, so will the quality and reliability of your communication.