what makes a good nurse?

Question

What do you feel makes a good nurse nd even what makes a bad nurse.

Answer 1

Well I'm a student nurse at the moment and i qualify in September.
Personally i think what makes a good nurse is when faced with a patient you actually see the individual and not just their condition. You could have 5 patients all with the same condition but to give them the best possible care you have to get to know them and then that way you can have a better idea of what treatment best suits them as individuals.
Nursing is about holistic care, get to know your patients and gain their trust. I think if you can do that then you are a good nurse!!
xxx

Answer 2

What Makes A Good Nurse

Answer 3

The main quality a good nurse should have is Empathy. good nurses see people and don't see patients. It is important to treat patients as you yourself would like to be treated if you were in that position or that age. Good nurses take time to answer questions and take time to make sure you are comfortable.
Bad nurses are the ones who de-humanise the people under their care and forget that it is the patient they should be working for not themselves. This type makes you feel that they have more to do than look after you, and that you are being a nuisance to them. They often treat you like a child and expect you to just do as they say. If asked a question they are most likely to tell you that you don't need to know!

Answer 4

Speaking as both a nurse and a relative of those who have been cared for in a hospital setting I can tell you that it is nothing to do with pretty faces, nice boobs or short skirts. Being a nurse is a physically and emotionally draining job, especially when you work somewhere like ICU, A&E, etc where the people tend to be very acutely and severly ill in the initial period of admission (not that nurses elsewhere don't work hard too, they do). For me being a good nurse (aside from the obvious clinical knowledge and skill) is about showing your patients that you really do care about their feelings, that their comfort is attended to, that they're not left lying in soiled or bloodied sheets and pyjamas; that you help them to wash and use the loo, yet help them to maintain a degree of dignity which is all too often stripped away from patients when they are hospitalised. It also extends to their families too. You have to communicate with the families about the patient's condition and often to translate what the doctors have told them and sometimes to the families on behalf of their relatives if they are unable to through being intubated or incoherent. Add to this assisting them with their physical therapy (yes, nurses do that too once the physio has moved on to the next patient), carrying out blood tests, giving medicines and sometimes just being there to listen to them talk about how worried their illness is making them, even though you have 5 bedpans to empty, the drug round is late, there are dressings to be done and you haven't had your lunch yet and its 3 in the afternoon. I have seen plenty of bad nurses come and go in the ten years I have worked in ICU. They are the ones who are more concerned with their appearance and if the cute new physio/doctor/radiographer has noticed them. They're too busy on the phone discussing Saturday night's exploits to notice that Mrs Jones has soiled her bed or not been able to eat the lunch that was put on the table at the bottom of the bed where she can't reach it. They're also the ones who snap and complain if someone dares to ask for pain relief - you couldn't possibly be sore, you had painkillers five hours ago. In short, its just a job that they go to because they have to, not because they care about the difference that they could make to someone possibly in their final few hours/days/weeks.

Answer 5

A good nurse needs to feel empathy with her patients, treat them with respect and as though they were the most important person in the world.Forget all the paper work that nursing now involves, nurses should be there for the patients not for statistics! A bad nurse would care only about the records she has to make of patients treatment , but not about who was carrying out that treatment and for what reason.(Trust me, i know!!)

Answer 6

The art of a good nurse is a pleasant disposition and finds time ( If possible ) to sit and listen to patients,

A bad nurse is one with an ' attitude'

Answer 7

A good nurse is someone who will listen and who will not judge, who will give you a smile when you need it most, who doesn't mind being on there feet all day.
A bad nurse won't do any of the above.

Answer 8

Hi i trained in 1988 and trained on the wards for three years, not in uni. When the influx of students began from uni we noticed that although there were the academic type, that is not always the best character type for dealing with the patient. Always treat the patient with unconditional, positive regard. You do have to meet targets, deadlines for instance obs done by handover, but do try to add the personal touch. Dont forget the bedside manner, it does help and it is a sign of a good nurse, aswel as all that you have learned academically.

Answer 9

a good nurse, is one who is compassionate, caring, always has time to stop and listen, no matter how busy, he or she may be.
a good nurse must have good skills and use them as necessary.
a good nurse treats you with the respect and dignity you deserve, and is never judgmental, despite what you why you are seeking treatment.
A good nurse will know resources that will help you to help you maintain your highest level of Independence.
But a good nurse need to really enjoy her profession, Otherwise, she is a bad nurse.

Answer 10

I think that the criteria of being a good nurse, is simply to love what you do, this love and passion for the job will flow over into your treatment for others and your general bed side manner.

A good nurse is one who put others before herself, is an emotional support, an encourager, a tower of strength and completely human.