Most doctors and nurses enter the healthcare industry with the best of intentions, but sometimes the stress becomes too much and they decide to find another career. As a result, they become disheartened and no longer provide the best possible care for their patients.
However, those who stay in the field and continue to provide excellent care for their patients have proven to possess several qualities that set them apart from their peers.
Here, we identify five of the most important qualities that tend to appear in highly skilled healthcare professionals.
Passion
Firstly, healthcare professionals who choose to work in the field tend to be passionate about their work. In a 2008 survey of more than 500 doctors and nurses who work in critical care, emergency medicine, and internal medicine, 73% reported that their work made them feel passionate. Moreover, 28% reported that it was the most important thing in their lives.
Those who choose to enter the industry might not always find their work fulfilling, and perhaps the work isn't as interesting to them as it could be. However, when they do find their work to be exciting and fulfilling, they will undoubtedly show more passion for it.
Determination
Healthcare professionals who choose to work in the field tend to be determined individuals who aren't afraid to push themselves beyond their limits. In the same survey, 41% report that they always push themselves to do their best, and 39% say they sometimes do. That's a lot of determination!
It's important to note that even if healthcare professional doesn't feel like they're getting the best results from their current job, they may still choose to stick it out. Sometimes, when individuals find their work to be interesting and challenging, they will put in the extra effort to ensure they get the best possible results. That extra effort can sometimes mean working long hours or days without a break. However, despite the exhausting hours, they feel they're making a difference and that their patients' lives are improving as a result.
Creativity
Another quality that frequently appears in healthcare professionals who choose to work in the field is creation. According to the 2008 survey, 38% of the respondents reported that they often come up with new ideas to solve problems, and 25% said they were creative in their approach to patients. In other words, the healthcare professionals in this survey often came up with novel ways to solve problems or provide excellent care for their patients.
While working in the industry, individuals will almost certainly encounter problems they must solve. It's not always clear-cut, and in many cases, there isn't even a clear-cut solution. That's when creativity becomes important. Healthcare professionals who choose to work in the field might find themselves stuck in a situation for which there isn't a clear-cut answer. In that situation, they will have to use their creativity to figure out a solution that is both appropriate and effective.
Independent Thinking
Healthcare professionals who choose to work in the field tend to be individuals who aren't afraid to think for themselves. In the same survey, 37% of the respondents said they often came up with their own solutions to problems, and 29% said they sometimes did. Furthermore, 12% said they never had to think for themselves because their manager/supervisor did all the thinking for them.
Those who choose to enter the industry might not always be given a chance to think for themselves. Instead, they will be expected to follow a certain protocol that was laid out by their manager/supervisor or another healthcare professional. Sometimes this can result in the implementation of bad practices or the failure to adopt good ones. Thinking independently and coming up with your own solutions will undoubtedly put you at a distinct disadvantage if you choose to work in the field, but it also means you have the opportunity to improve the lives of your patients.
Judgment
Judgment is another quality that frequently appears in healthcare professionals who choose to work in the field. According to the 2008 survey, 28% of the respondents reported that they always chose the right answer when there was more than one option, and 26% said they sometimes did. Moreover, 18% said they sometimes got the wrong answer, but after careful consideration, they were able to come up with a suitable conclusion.
For those who choose to work in the field, judgment becomes important when deciding which treatment to give a patient or when interpreting the results of a test. If they cannot assess situations accurately and come to the right conclusions, then their judgment is likely to be severely lacking as well. In many cases, healthcare professionals will have to make split-second decisions without the ability to properly consider all the information. If they are unable to do that, then their judgment will be of no use to them in their professional capacity, and they should consider another career.
Transparency
Last but not least, we have transparency. According to the 2008 survey, 37% of the respondents reported that they were often transparent about their work, and 30% said they sometimes were. Only 13% said they were never transparent about their work, and 6% said they didn't know what transparency meant. Basically, those who choose to work in the field tend to be upfront and honest about their work. That's an important quality to have if you're going to be providing healthcare to others.
To conclude, it's important to note that while the majority of healthcare professionals who chose this career path have the best intentions, sometimes the stress can become too much and they decide to find another career. Those who stay in the field and continue to provide excellent care for their patients have proven to possess several qualities that set them apart from their peers. It's important to remember that these are just some of the qualities that appear most often in this group of professionals. There are undoubtedly other qualities that appear less frequently but just as much if not more so than the ones mentioned here. Moreover, some of these qualities can be seen as either a blessing or a curse, depending on how you look at it. For example, the determination can be both a blessing and a curse, as determined individuals can make it harder to ignore your advice and get the work done, but it can also be seen as a curse if that same determination leads you to hurt yourself or others. In this case, your judgment might be called into question, as well as your creativity and independent thinking.