What Makes a Great Nurse

It's been said many times, "It takes all kinds to make this big 'ole world go 'round." Nurses come in all shapes, sizes, ages, and personalities. These different personalities make us each who we are, but which of these different traits make us good nurses? Nurses Announcements Archive Article

When I was in nursing school, one thing I always remember hearing the instructors say is straight A's are not what makes a good nurse. There's nothing wrong with getting straight A's of course, but it takes a lot more than that to truly be a good nurse.

I believe one of the most important qualities of being a good nurse is having compassion. A nurse with compassion is one who truly cares about her patients well-being and outcome. This nurse treats her patients as she would expect any other nurse to treat herself or own loved ones.

The nurse with experience, not experience as a nurse but as a patient. This nurse applies her own experiences into practice. The only way to truly understand what a patient is going through is to have experienced it yourself. Each nurse has different experiences but at some time almost all of us will experience an ER visit, a surgery, or even labor and delivery as a patient.

Another great quality in a nurse is being non-judgmental.

I know long ago in nursing school we were taught this, but I see it so often and I admit that I've caught myself judging patients.

As an example: "30 year old with back pain coming by ambulance, gotta be a drug seeker." Turned out the patient had a back injury after an accident. It seems that many of these patients being judged are being judged because of known or suspected drug abuse. These people are struggling with an illness; addiction is an illness and should be treated that way. These people have their own stories and struggles that have led them to where they are today, some of these struggles way more difficult than we can ever imagine.

It's important for nurse's to be efficient, one way of doing this is to be part of a team. Working together with others and delegating to other members of your team helps increase your efficiency. Part of being a team is also helping other members of your team. Being efficient helps you to give your patients the best care. There are many aspects to having an effective team, but it's very important that all members of the team are respectful of each other.

Nurses need to be respectful of each other and of their patients. There are many little things about an individual that may drive you crazy, but just remember none of us are perfect. There is probably something about yourself that drives someone else crazy.

Good article nko!! Spot on

And to the poster about addicts, people have biases. Hers stems from the horrible experiences she had with addicts all her life. I can sympathize with carrying resentment about things like that.

We have to take care of any and all despite it, and I don't think she meant that she wouldn't. Maybe she just wouldnt like it as much as another type of patient population. Not the worst thing in the world!

I like honesty and self-evaluation. I wouldn't love taking care of rapists and killers all day. So I'm probably going to avoid working in an environment where the patients are primarily ones I would not enjoy as much.

As a loving wife of an alcoholic who spent last Monday in the ER after a terrible binge, I am so grateful that there were nurses who treated my husband as a human being who deserves care and respect.

Addiction is a horrible, painful disease, and I don't know of anyone who chooses to live that life. Not only am I married to an alcoholic, my mom is an alcoholic and my brothers are both heroine addicts. I am surrounded by it, I am hurt by it, I have cried buckets of tears over it and have worn my knees out praying for it to all stop. But these are all human beings, and I love them very, very much.

It always amazes me when people say "they made their bed". I don't know about anyone else, but when I took my first swig of liquor at a party when I was 19, I didn't see it as "making my bed." Certainly I could have turned into an addict as could anyone else, but thankfully I did not. Please, don't oversimplify addiction. It just is not that cut and dry.

I applaud all the positive responses to this article. It started out as a beautifully written post, and it's ironic it took a turn for the worse.....especially given the topic! :(

I definitely agree that it's not fair to say that the addicted or the homeless "made their own bed". Any one of us could be in the same boat had our lives taken a different turn. Like the saying goes "there but for the grace of God, go I"

How about the patients who are smokers? Now lung cancer patients?

What about the Alcoholics? Now, liver cancer patients?

And how about the food addicts? Now, diabetic, cardiac patients?

There is a reason why people are sick... Everyone has their addiction...

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

closed for staff review.

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

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This article is about the qualities of a good nurse compassion, experience, non-judgmental, efficient, and respect.

Lets respect the author ans stick to the subject of the thread. Points will be assigned to those who cannot. THread reopened

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.

Taking on the Experience part now, I had an LPN/LVN assisting me in ER one night when a 18 y/o female came in with Abdominal Cramps, Hemorrhaging, and stated long history of Dysmenorrhea.

I got an humbling Assessment Experience, . . the LPN went in to prep her in gown, I got an IV going, and the LPN was placing chuck pads down under her buttocks, and that's when she ran for the phone.

I was angered because I, being a male didn't want to be left alone with an exposed female. The doctor worked 36 hour weekend shifts, and I figured she was going to wake him after obviously seeing what must have been worse than she thought-I wasn't impressed with the amount of blood which looked like a heavy period(remember her Hx?).

The girl is wrenching in pain, and begging for a "Pain Shot." Then the LPN came back in and notified me the Doc was coming, then looked at the girl, and said, "Where is your newborn?"

I nearly passed out.

"Ma'am, I'm not pregnant!"

"I realize that honey, not anymore, Where is the baby?"

"I am hurting so bad!"

"You have given birth, Where is your child?"

I was in shock, I was glad to see Dr. Walking through curtain, I was just locked in place at the head of the bed. "Let's hang blah blah fluids, get a . . . "She's given birth, she is freshly postpartum," the LPN told the doc.

"I AIN'T GOT NO KID!" She yelled.

"Give her Demerol 50mg and Phenergan 25mg slow IVP, it's obviously not GI, and he did a quick a assessment while she went to prepare the injection for me.

"HELP ME! It hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrts!" The doctor did a quick assessment and said, "She's out of her mind, she must think these old tears, and stretch marks are new, I see no afterbirth."

"I told you!!!!

When the LPN got back, the doc left, she threatened to spray the shot in the sink if not told where the baby was. I argued with her, and reached for the syringe.

"You got three seconds Ms. Xxxxxx," she calmly said popping the cap off and pointing at sink, "3,. . .2, . . . "

"He in the south field by the concession stand in a Nike shoe box, he ain't right, somethin' look wrong with him."

I told her to call EMS, county fire and rescue (very rural), and police.

I gave the shot. Several pieces of Placenta were removed that would have surely become infected, or lead to a real hemorrhage!

Then the little Infant was brought in the Bay doors in a towel, and placed in our incubator, he WAS perfect, no problems other than we warmed him, and got fluids going (he had been there 3 hours.

The LPN's experience saved 2 lives that night, and I could have seen the News the next day or so, and lost it, but she, one of my nurse heroes, stopped that.

Specializes in Adult/Ped Emergency and Trauma.

"A good assessment and medical history can take up to 20 minutes; a bad one can take a life."

-written on one my Emergency Department's Office Walls.

Hi, Good article. I am only still in the pre-req stage in my journey, but there is one thing about your article that REALLY, and I mean REALLY bothers me. It is about addiction being a disease... Now, even if the medical and nursing community can TECHNICALLY give a million reasons why a pt's addiction is similar to (or, as is claimed) an ACTUAL disease, I have to point out a certain piece of information that is akin to shouting " The Emperer has no clothes..." These addicts CHOSE to take whatever substance they are addicted to that first (or second, or third or 50th time...), knowing that the possibility of them becoming addicts existed.

I know as an aspiring Nurse that I'm supposed to sympathize with these people-and make no mistake, once I am an RN I will do what is expected of me regardless of my personal feelings- but they made their bed, and now they expect the rest of us to lie in it with them... I'm sorry but I don't agree. Many of these addicts are going to the ER on the taxpayers dime, and I personally think that this needs to stop.

I don't think it really matters if we agree that it's a disease or not. I personally don't buy the "disease" part of addiction either. I've had a lot of experience with addiction in my personal life, and even though I think it's mostly a choice, it doesn't impact the way I view the patient. Maybe that would be different if my life experience had been different. I don't know.

For example, if a patient who is an addict just had surgery and they are begging for more pain medication even though they've been given more than what the "normal" patient is given, what should we do? I say, give them more! Yes, that's right. Why? Because I know that giving someone two lortab 5's who is used to taking eight lortab 10's on the street just for fun is NOT going to help their pain. I told a doctor this just last week when requesting more medication for a patient. He said, "he can get it every two hours." I said, "yeah, but he takes ten times that amount on the street. it does NOTHING." These people didn't become addicts in one day and we are not going to turn them around in one day either. It infuriates me when nurses treat drug addicts poorly, refuse to medicate them adequately, or even just fail to advocate for them as they would any other patient. I mean, what do nurses gain by witholding pain medication from an addict?

Should we treat people with type 1 diabetes better than we treat type 2 diabetics? Should we treat someone who got breast cancer better than the smoker who got lung cancer? I've seen that btw - with the lung cancer thing. It doesn't matter why the person is there and whether they ended up there by chance or by choice - they need help and they deserve the same respect and compassion as anyone else.

I don't think it really matters if we agree that it's a disease or not. I personally don't buy the "disease" part of addiction either. I've had a lot of experience with addiction in my personal life, and even though I think it's mostly a choice, it doesn't impact the way I view the patient. Maybe that would be different if my life experience had been different. I don't know.

For example, if a patient who is an addict just had surgery and they are begging for more pain medication even though they've been given more than what the "normal" patient is given, what should we do? I say, give them more! Yes, that's right. Why? Because I know that giving someone two lortab 5's who is used to taking eight lortab 10's on the street just for fun is NOT going to help their pain. I told a doctor this just last week when requesting more medication for a patient. He said, "he can get it every two hours." I said, "yeah, but he takes ten times that amount on the street. it does NOTHING." These people didn't become addicts in one day and we are not going to turn them around in one day either. It infuriates me when nurses treat drug addicts poorly, refuse to medicate them adequately, or even just fail to advocate for them as they would any other patient. I mean, what do nurses gain by witholding pain medication from an addict?

Should we treat people with type 1 diabetes better than we treat type 2 diabetics? Should we treat someone who got breast cancer better than the smoker who got lung cancer? I've seen that btw - with the lung cancer thing. It doesn't matter why the person is there and whether they ended up there by chance or by choice - they need help and they deserve the same respect and compassion as anyone else.

I am in near total agreement with you. If the word "Deserve" wasn't in your last sentence, the word "Near" wouldn't be in the first of this response. But yeah, you did a FAR better job than I of making your point.

Eh, we can debate that people don't 'deserve' respect, but have to earn it. I don't think that's really applicable in a nurse/patient relationship most of the time. I don't expect someone in the ER or OR to have to earn my respect in order for me to respect them as a patient. People are notorious for treating drug addicts with less respect than they would treat an old lady who got hit crossing the road. I had a meth addict who literally sat there digging at his imaginary bugs throughout my assessment, and that made me feel a certain kind of way, but he was very respectful and polite. On the other hand, I've had a "sweet little old granny" be nothing but hateful and rude for no apparent reason at all. I've had to respect them both, but in a case like that, guess who is easier to respect?

Fair enough, Ntheboat2, fair enough.

As a change of course, I would like to thank the Op for starting this post. By looking at all the responses to my and other comments, it gives me an idea of the "Flavor" of general opinion in the nursing field. I see I have an uphill battle ahead of me (and a steeply graded hill, at that :) ) upon entering the nursing community. It is always good to know what you are getting into, and this article and the responses in it has given me a decent snapshot of how my way of thinking will certainly be unpopular with my fellow coworkers. Likely it means I will have to keep my opinion to myself on things such as this. Lesson learned.