What Makes a Great Healthcare Professional?
Becoming a Healthcare Professional
Healthcare offers some of the best careers. What does a great healthcare professional need to do to meet the challenge? To the extent of how they manage patient contact, interacting with unwell people at every level to cater to the needs of people who are feeling vulnerable, worried and helpless, dealing with other professionals, peers and members of staff is what makes great healthcare professionals.
Here are a few tips to develop into a great healthcare professional
- Interpersonal Skills
- Emotional Stability
- Physical Stamina
- Mental Equanimity
- Eye for Detail
(1) Interpersonal Skills
You will need to effectively communicate with other doctors, nurses, members of medical staff, patients, their families and the general public..
This will require you to explain health conditions to your patients or their families, and help them understand treatment procedures. Additionally, as a nurse or a pharmacist, you may be required to advise on medication and the best ways to take the medicines. Pharmacists often check with patients about their existing medication to see if there are medicines that cannot be taken together.
Many healthcare professionals move into managerial or leadership roles where you will be leading a team of junior professionals at your facility or move into a corporate setting. Overall, good leadership skills will help you lead your team well and contribute to your workplace.
(2) Emotional Stability
Stress and burnout is one of the highest in the healthcare and medical professions, many professionals can feel overwhelmed by their jobs and let stress get to them. Eventually sooner or later they face a complete burnout.
It takes it toll on your emotional capabilities. Therefore, ensure you find ways that will help you keep your stress levels in check. Adopt proper tools and aids to cope such as regular exercise, yoga, meditation and time out.
Great healthcare professionals monitor their emotions so they don’t spiral out of control. Hospital and healthcare facilities are highly charged workplaces where you encounter illness, death and sorrow, joy and happiness, so learning to manage your emotions during such situations becomes increasingly difficult. However, with preparation you will manage to deal with these situations with emotional calm and resilience without internalising the stress and allowing it to affect you.
(3) Physical Stamina
It almost goes without saying in today’s complex workplace that paying attention to your physical stamina, healthy diet, regular exercise, taking care of your body/mind connection is essential
Jobs in the healthcare setting are both physically and mentally demanding as it requires you to be aware at all times and on your feet for most of the day visiting patients or attending to various workplace functions. Frequently you will be required to work overtime, in night shifts and over weekends as well.
Ensure you find ways to look after your health and physical stamina. There are many options.
(4) Mental Equanimity
Every day brings its own set of challenges, as a result no work day is the same in the life of a healthcare professional.
Handling medical emergencies, contingencies you will have to remain calm and manage your activities efficiently. For instance you will interact with people who have different personalities and are unpredictable under stressful situations.
Therefore, developing mental equanimity during stressful times, being flexible, developing an adaptable character will help you deal with different kinds of people and situations. Together with experience over time you will become more adept in dealing with people and situations.
(3) Eye for Detail
As a healthcare professional you will be responsible for a wide array of activities like assessment, diagnosis, medication, documentation and treatment. These activities less little or no room for error. In this case attention to detail can result in saving a patient’s life or result in faulty treatment.
Great healthcare professionals are ethically and legally responsible for their jobs, and any mistake can result in lengthy lawsuits. An important aspect of medical education is medical ethics, legalities, liabilities and responsibilities.
Back end jobs like medical billing and coding specialists require post-secondary training and are sought after but require a keen eye for details as any mistakes may result in claims getting rejected. Accurate coding and quick turnaround times are important performance parameters.
Conclusion
Great healthcare professionals analyse situations carefully and take crucial decisions regarding patient care. On the whole a detail oriented professional will be able to make better informed decisions.
UBIS Health is the place for health professionals.
