Student wants to know: What impresses you most?

[mariedoreen]

So what qualities in a student impress you most as an educator?

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

Welcome to the Forum, mariedoreen! Best wishes for your future career as a nurse. The qualities that MOST impress me are:

Positive attitude

Respect (not the same as subservience, by any means--it's possible to be respectful even when disapproving or disagreeing strongly)

Professionalism (this includes dress and appearance)

Patient advocacy (the patient is always center)

Dependability (especially on that clinical floor)

Responsibility (being willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to make sure an assignment is completed to the best of one's ability)

Accountability (taking ownership for one's faults and mistakes--we all make them)

Character (doing the morally right thing at all times)

Honesty (please avoid manipulation, superficial flattery)

Critical thinking (doing the right thing for the right reason)

Being assertive, but not aggressive (very necessary quality for patient advocacy in today's healthcare climate)

Academic performance (though very important, notice this is at the bottom of the list)

These are a few of the qualities that make a student stand out like a "gem."

[VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN]

I like this quote ('bout sums up my philosophy on life):

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life.

Attitude is more important than the facts.

It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do.

It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company ... a church ... a home.

The remarkable thing is,

we have a choice everyday

regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.

We cannot change our past ... we cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have,

and that is our attitude.

I convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it.

And, so it is with you ...

We are in charge of our attitudes.

-- Chuck Swindoll

[profjanmc]

AMEN,

I can teach the skills to just about anyone, but I can't fix attitude... Try not to take yourself too seriously and get stressed early in your career, enjoy the gift that being a nurse can be....