What Makes a Nurse Great, Skill or Compassion?

While education and knowledge are important for one to be a nurse, assets including compassion, leadership, and a desire to learn make for a 'great' nurse.

If I were a patient, I would certainly expect my care provider to be competent in nursing skills, knowledge, and have a degree. However, on the other hand, if I were acutely ill and feeling hopeless, I would want a nurse that showed genuine empathy and concern for me.

Nurses attend grueling courses that teach microbiology, chemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and many other classes that teach about the intricate mechanisms of our human body, much like the workings of a vehicle engine.

On the surface, knowledge of the Krebs's Cycle, and production of ATP molecules is paramount to understanding the body's cellular needs and to sustain life. Nevertheless, to care for a human being, is that enough?

Humans, unlike machines, respond best to other humans. Our emotions drive our lives, from birth until death. How then, can one treat only the machine?

Babies respond first to their mother's touch, then their mother's voice, and finally to their mother's face. As we age, our emotions become more sophisticated, but no less basic.

'Great' nurses must bound past the 'mechanic' level and continue on to the 'human' level, never forgetting what makes us tick. Human souls die when they are isolated, regardless of the condition of the body.

In addition to the human touch, empathy and understanding is balm to our souls. We not only need intact skin and functioning organs, we need emotional peace and comfort. Nurses are taught the physical and technical skills necessary to pass the individual 'State Boards', but that does not teach skills to enable one to prioritize, be a good leader, and to manage time, all of which allows more quality time to be spent with the patient. A 'good' nurse must also be able to direct and coordinate the work of others, in all departments, to care for the "whole" person emotionally, physically, and practically.

Nursing a physically, and mentally challenging, therefore a nurse must always thirst for new knowledge to keep abreast of new treatments, new trends, and cultural changes.

While new, young nurses may be 'good', they can only gain experience through years of observing and being a part of heartache, joy, hardship, and being a part of a team of diverse individuals working with one common goal- the well-being of the patient.

In conclusion, 'great' nurses are not guaranteed, they must not only have a capacity to retain knowledge, but they must also have, at the core of their being, a selflessness that allows barriers, cultures, and languages to break, so that they may speak from the heart.

While education and knowledge are important for one to be a nurse, assets including compassion, leadership, and a desire to learn make for a 'great' nurse.

If I were a patient, I would certainly expect my care provider to be competent in nursing skills, knowledge, and have a degree. However, on the other hand, if I were acutely ill and feeling hopeless, I would want a nurse that showed genuine empathy and concern for me.

Nurses attend grueling courses that teach microbiology, chemistry, pharmacology, physiology, and many other classes that teach about the intricate mechanisms of our human body, much like the workings of a vehicle engine.

On the surface, knowledge of the Krebs's Cycle, and production of ATP molecules is paramount to understanding the body's cellular needs and to sustain life. Nevertheless, to care for a human being, is that enough?

Humans, unlike machines, respond best to other humans. Our emotions drive our lives, from birth until death. How then, can one treat only the machine?

Babies respond first to their mother's touch, then their mother's voice, and finally to their mother's face. As we age, our emotions become more sophisticated, but no less basic.

'Great' nurses must bound past the 'mechanic' level and continue on to the 'human' level, never forgetting what makes us tick. Human souls die when they are isolated, regardless of the condition of the body.

In addition to the human touch, empathy and understanding is balm to our souls. We not only need intact skin and functioning organs, we need emotional peace and comfort. Nurses are taught the physical and technical skills necessary to pass the individual 'State Boards', but that does not teach skills to enable one to prioritize, be a good leader, and to manage time, all of which allows more quality time to be spent with the patient. A 'good' nurse must also be able to direct and coordinate the work of others, in all departments, to care for the "whole" person emotionally, physically, and practically.

Nursing a physically, and mentally challenging, therefore a nurse must always thirst for new knowledge to keep abreast of new treatments, new trends, and cultural changes.

While new, young nurses may be 'good', they can only gain experience through years of observing and being a part of heartache, joy, hardship, and being a part of a team of diverse individuals working with one common goal- the well-being of the patient.

In conclusion, 'great' nurses are not guaranteed, they must not only have a capacity to retain knowledge, but they must also have, at the core of their being, a selflessness that allows barriers, cultures, and languages to break, so that they may speak from the heart.