7 of the Best Characteristics that Make a Successful Nurse Practitioner (2024)

With every career and position, you must have specific characteristics that fit your job descriptions and duties. Medical professionals all have to have similar qualities about them to ensure they are successful in their particular field. While there are general qualities, sometimes certain positions and careers make for specific types of attributes to get the job done properly.

Nurse practitioners are in demand all around the world and are some of the most important medical professionals out there. Nurses are responsible for assessing and diagnosing the conditions of patients. Sometimes these professionals go to the extent of treating their patients with prescription medication, lab tests, and counseling about overall bodily health. The number of patients and situations nurses tend to make their job a little difficult, especially if you don’t have the characteristics needed for the position. If you arelooking to be a nurse practitioner, here is a list of the most popular traits that make a successful nurse.

1.Empathy

Empathy is a quality that is demanded every nurse practitioner. You will be dealing with hurt people who need someone to consider their pain and needs. To be a nurse you should be sensitive to the feelings and emotions of others, especially your patients. Trying to understand a patient’s situation or perspective can be difficult if you have never experienced it. Empathy allows you to consider others feelings without having had experience with them.

This key characteristic is important for nurses to be able to respond to a patient’s feelings with gentle and genuine care. You want to care about their well being to ensure you notate their symptoms and feelings to offer the best treatment for them. Empathy is something some people have generally but for others, it may not come so easily. There are ways topractice your empathy if you feel the need to strengthen this area.

2.Creativity

Some may think that creativity doesn’t necessarily belong in such a serious field of work, but it is beneficial to nurse practitioners in multiple ways. Being able to utilize your imagination and build new ideas is important to the work of nurse practitioners. It helps medical professionals with problem solving and communication. Being under the stress that comes with being a nurse can be daunting and allowing creativity to flow makes getting out of challenging situations easier.

Nurse practitioners are the most successful when they are allowed to use their creative abilities to find new innovations and methods for patient care and to embrace new technologies. These medical professionals should be skilled in creativity to allow for a more innovative way of assessing and treating their patients.

3.Enthusiasm

You can’t be a Debby Downer when you are a nurse practitioner. You have to practice positivity and enthusiasm for your patients. Enthusiasm is usually something that causes a person to smile and eagerness. You want your energy to express your love for your career because your patients pay attention to that. You must be ready to ask questions with positivity. Those that are successful nurse practitioners usually embody an inquisitive person.

Sometimes it can be difficult for medical professionals to always remain enthusiastic as their jobs can demand too much of them. Sometimes a break is needed and that is ok. It can be something you take a second to gather before your next patient. Try to think about the things you love and make sure your are taking care of your body. This is especially important in maintaining a positive attitude.

4.Integrity

You must embody integrity when working in the medical field. It is crucial to make sure that you are always honest and transparent on the job. You want your coworkers and patients to trust you and to do that you must remain honest and ethical. Because of the job you have, you will encounter situations that may try to test your ethical beliefs and you must always follow the rules and laws regarding your patients and their information responsibly.

Nurses are trusted to be the most ethical professionals in the medical business. It should be in a nurses nature to always want to be honest and do the right thing. When you possess integrity, you get an honest dependency and trust from the people that matter the most. You get recognition for your hard work as well.

5.Tenacity

When working in such a busy environment, it is required for a nurse to have tenacity. This is crucial as it determines a person’s work ethic and will to keep going. Tenacity is persistence. When someone is persistent in finding information or always shooting for their goals, it shows in their work. Nurses who have the tenacity usually will get recognized for it. Nurse practitioners are the ones that never give up on their patients.

Some may advise those that struggle with determination to find an organization locally or globally to participate in lobbying efforts. Nurses practitioners fight for full practice authority and learning to fight for something with a large group of people can be beneficial for new nurses or those who struggle with tenacity.

6.Endurance

Endurance is something most medical professionals must have. Endurance in the mind and body is necessary to get the job done. The successful nurse practitioners must have psychological endurance to be able to withstand the amount of mental and creative demanded by their daily careers.

It can be tough to remain sane and enjoy your job every day if you don’thave the psychological capacity. It can be easy to adopt the emotions of your patients as a nurse. Dealing with negative emotions every day can put a toll on someone’s mental state. Your patients can be dealing with various types of feelings, including:

  • Frightened

  • Grieving

  • Angry

  • Depressed

  • Confused

  • In pain

  • And more

You will need physical endurance because you will constantly be moving around from room to room and you must be able to withstand the physical demands of your career. Wearing comfortable shoes and clothes can help with this as well but you must be able to go long periods of time without sitting or resting.

7.Communicative

You have to be able to communicate clearly. This means both verbally and physically. You must be able to handle conversations with your colleagues and your patients. The communication skills of a successful nurse practitioner stand out. Nurse practitioners are good listeners and good talkers. You have to be able to translate difficult information to your patients and try to help them understand.

You must be direct and empathetic with your communication. It isn’t something you that you just have, you must utilize it in a positive manner. Those that are successful are kind when they speak to others and it usually comes easy. But this can get difficult when times come that affect your mood or may interfere with your communication skills. Try to practice effective communication to be able to overcome language barriers, and other hurdles you may come across while assessing your patient.

Becoming a nurse requires much effort. The number of essays students have to handle is enormous, but there are also a lot of practical issues one has to tackle to become a highly qualified nurse practitioner. Thus, it is convenient to have anursing paper writing serviceby your side where you can hire writers to help you cope with difficult writing tasks and pay closer attention to practical classes.

Nurse practitioners are the most successful when they are allowed to use their creative abilities to find new innovations and methods for patient care and to embrace new technologies. These medical professionals should be skilled in creativity to allow for a more innovative way of assessing and treating their patients.

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7 of the Best Characteristics that Make a Successful Nurse Practitioner (2024)

FAQs

What are the characteristics of nurse practitioners? ›

Nurse Practitioner Personality Traits
  • Compassionate. Patients want a healthcare provider who listens to their concerns, shows empathy for their pain and suffering, and works diligently to find a solution to their problems. ...
  • Good communicator. ...
  • Detail-oriented. ...
  • Confident. ...
  • References.

What skills are most important in nurse practitioner? ›

What Are the Critical Skills of a Nurse Practitioner?
  1. Executive Leadership. The first of these skills is executive leadership. ...
  2. Clinical Instruction. ...
  3. Problem-Solving. ...
  4. Improve Patient Outcomes. ...
  5. Improve Nursing Practice. ...
  6. Communication. ...
  7. Collaboration. ...
  8. Quality and Safety.

What makes a good advanced nurse practitioner? ›

Advanced practitioners can demonstrate expertise and professional judgement to achieve these capabilities in areas such as: clinical examination, diagnostic decision making and therapeutics, collaborative communication skills in consultations, critical thinking, and clinical decision-making, and the leadership they ...

What are the most important personal characteristics for a nurse? ›

Kindness, fairness, caring, trustworthiness, emotional stability, empathy, and compassion are components that make you human on a personal level and serve you well as a nurse. You exhibit strong communication skills. You communicate well with patients and colleagues — sometimes at their worst life moments.

What are the 7 characteristics of a good nurse? ›

What Makes Someone a Good Nurse?
  • Caring. ...
  • Communication Skills. ...
  • Empathy. ...
  • Attention to Detail. ...
  • Problem Solving Skills. ...
  • Stamina. ...
  • Sense of Humor. ...
  • Commitment to Patient Advocacy.
25 Feb 2020

What is included in the 7 domains of competency for nurse practitioners? ›

The competencies are organized in seven content domains: Management of Patient Health/Illness Status, The Nurse Practitioner-Patient Relationship, The Teaching-Coaching Function, Professional Role, Managing and Negotiating Health Care Delivery Systems, Monitoring and Ensuring the Quality of Health Care Practices and ...

What strengths should a nurse practitioner have? ›

The Four Elements Of Caring
  • Attentiveness: NPs should display attentiveness, particularly when assessing a patient's condition and go out of their way to ensure that a patent's needs are met. ...
  • Responsibility: ...
  • Competence. ...
  • Responsiveness of the Patient. ...
  • Compassion. ...
  • Positivity. ...
  • Prioritizing. ...
  • Communication.

How do I become a successful NP? ›

WHAT QUALITIES MAKE A GOOD NURSE PRACTITIONER?
  1. Attentiveness. When dealing with a patient's health, it is essential to be attentive to what they tell you and what you see on the exam. ...
  2. Compassion. ...
  3. Integrity. ...
  4. Competence. ...
  5. Communication. ...
  6. Optimism. ...
  7. Empathy. ...
  8. Creativity.

What makes an effective practitioner? ›

Effective Practitioner focuses on person-centred, safe, evidence-based care. The information, resources and activities are designed to help build strong relationships with patients that result in a positive experience and outcomes.

What are 3 responsibilities of a nurse practitioner? ›

Ordering, performing and interpreting diagnostic tests such as lab work and x-rays. Diagnosing and treating acute and chronic conditions such as diabetes, high blood pressure, infections and injuries. Prescribing medications and other treatments. Managing patients' overall care.

What are the top 5 7 items to consider when negotiating a FNP position? ›

7 Things You Should Consider In a Nurse Practitioner Employment Contract
  • Salary. I will begin with the obvious. ...
  • Bonuses. This is where my first nurse practitioner contract negotiation experience went bad. ...
  • Continuing Education Allowance. ...
  • Insurance Benefits. ...
  • Retirement Benefits. ...
  • Schedule Flexibility. ...
  • Vacation Days.
27 Aug 2012

What is the best type of nurse practitioner? ›

The 10 highest paying types of nurse practitioner specializations
  • Psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. ...
  • Neonatal nurse practitioner. ...
  • Pediatric nurse practitioner. ...
  • Emergency nurse practitioner. ...
  • Acute care nurse practitioner. ...
  • Women's health nurse practitioner. ...
  • Adult-gerontology nurse practitioner.
26 May 2022

What are the 6 C's of nursing? ›

The 6Cs of nursing are:
  • Care.
  • Compassion.
  • Competence.
  • Communication.
  • Courage.
  • Commitment.

What are the 5 core values of nursing? ›

Caring is best demonstrated by a nurse's ability to embody the five core values of professional nursing. Core nursing values essential to baccalaureate education include human dignity, integrity, autonomy, altruism, and social justice.

What are the five primary characteristics of a nursing profession? ›

The articles defining the characteristics of the nursing profession list them as: Strong commitment, long-term and regular education, special body of knowledge and skills, ethics, autonomy, power for standard service, valuing and existence of professional associations.

What are the 7 core values of nursing profession? ›

Core values of nursing include altruism, autonomy, human dignity, integrity, honesty and social justice [3]. The core ethical values are generally shared within the global community, and they are a reflection of the human and spiritual approach to the nursing profession.

What are the 7 C's in nursing? ›

Charting the 7 c's of cultural change affecting foreign nurses: competency, communication, consistency, cooperation, customs, conformity and courage.

What are the 7 pillars of nursing? ›

The seven platforms:
  • Being an accountable professional.
  • Promoting health and preventing ill health.
  • Assessing needs and planning care.
  • Providing and evaluating care.
  • Leading and managing nursing care and working in teams.
  • Improving safety and quality of care.
  • Coordinating care.
21 Oct 2022

What are the 7 common competencies? ›

The seven core competencies are:
  • Lean-Agile Leadership.
  • Team and Technical Agility.
  • Agile Product Delivery.
  • Enterprise Solution Delivery.
  • Lean Portfolio Management.
  • Organizational Agility.
  • Continuous Learning Culture.

What are the 8 key competencies? ›

The Key Competences are:
  • Multilingual competence.
  • Personal, social and learning to learn competence.
  • Citizenship competence.
  • Entrepreneurship competence.
  • Cultural awareness and expression competence.
  • Digital competence.
  • Mathematical competence and competence in science, technology and engineering.
  • Literacy competence.

What are the 4 key competencies? ›

The 4 skills:
  • Creativity…to find solutions.
  • Critical thinking…to think logically.
  • Cooperation and Communication…to work together.
5 May 2021

What skills should a practitioner have? ›

Some of the skills and qualities you'll need as a public health practitioner include:
  • well developed people skills.
  • an ability to value difference and diversity.
  • creativity and adaptability.
  • analysing and interpreting information.
  • an ability to create marketing materials, publications and reports.

How do nurse practitioners get core competencies? ›

The NP Role Core Competencies are acquired through mentored patient care experiences with an emphasis on interprofessional practice; use of technology to deliver and enhance patient and population health outcomes; analytic skills for evaluating and providing evidence-based, person-centered care across settings; and ...

What is the easiest NP to be? ›

WHAT ARE THE EASIEST NURSE PRACTITIONER SPECIALTIES TO GET ACCEPTED INTO?
  1. Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. ...
  2. Pediatric Nurse Practitioner. ...
  3. Family Nurse Practitioner. ...
  4. Occupational Health Nurse Practitioners (OHNP) ...
  5. Aesthetic Nurse Practitioner.

What is the hardest nurse practitioner specialty? ›

WHAT ARE THE HARDEST NURSE PRACTITIONER SPECIALTIES?
  • Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner. ...
  • Emergency Nurse Practitioner. ...
  • Armed Forces NP. ...
  • Adult-Gerontology Nurse Practitioner. ...
  • Correctional Nurse Practitioner. ...
  • Substance Abuse Nurse Practitioner. ...
  • Critical Care Nurse Practitioner. ...
  • Neonatal Nurse Practitioner.

What are the four qualities of a professional practitioner? ›

The core qualities of a professional practitioner are:
  • Values and attitudes.
  • Integrity both with themselves and with others.
  • Independence-to be free of secondary interests with other parties.
  • Competence.
  • Organisational Ability.
  • Discretion-care with communications.
21 Sept 2022

What are 2 characteristics of effective practice? ›

However, the integration and synthesis of evidence also reveals core features of inspiring practice and highlighted the strong emotional and reflective components that distinguish inspiring practice, including: positive relationships; good classroom/behaviour management; positive and supportive climate; formative ...

What makes a good assistant practitioner? ›

Assistant Practitioner skills and qualifications

Ability to follow directions and procedures with a commitment to quality care. Teamwork skills for mentoring Student Nurses, Healthcare Assistants and Trainee Assistant Practitioners. Excellent verbal and written communication skills to explain procedures to patients.

What are the 4 roles nurse practitioners can have? ›

NPs are responsible to the public and adaptable to the dynamic changes in health care. As leaders in health care, NPs combine the roles of provider, mentor, educator, researcher, advocate and administrator.

What is the primary goal of a nurse practitioner? ›

Summary: The role of nurse practitioner is to provide acute and primary care to patients across the healthcare continuum, from assessing, diagnosing and treating illnesses to educating communities on disease prevention.

What do nurse practitioners focus on? ›

NP practice includes, but is not limited to, assessing patients; ordering, performing, supervising and interpreting diagnostic and laboratory tests; making diagnoses; initiating and managing treatment, including prescribing medication and non-pharmacologic treatments; coordinating care; counseling; and educating ...

What are the 7 steps to negotiating successfully? ›

Seven Steps To Negotiating Successfully
  1. Gather Background Information: ...
  2. Assess your arsenal of negotiation tactics and strategies: ...
  3. Create Your Negotiation Plan: ...
  4. Engage in the Negotiation Process: ...
  5. Closing the Negotiation: ...
  6. Conduct a Postmortem: ...
  7. Create Negotiation Archive:

Where is the biggest need for nurse practitioners? ›

If you're considering a career as a nurse practitioner (NP), you may wonder about the current demand.
...
Featured Online MSN Programs.
State*Number of Jobs
1. New York21,870
2. California19,700
3. Texas16,430
4. Florida15,200
6 more rows

Where do NP get paid the most? ›

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, California is the highest paying state for nurse practitioners. Entry-level nurse practitioners in the state earn over $50 hourly and average about $107,310 yearly. NPs with ten to nineteen years can earn up to $165,140 yearly.

Why is a nurse practitioner better than a nurse? ›

Although both registered nurses and nurse practitioners focus on patient observation and care, the largest difference between the two roles is that NPs are permitted to prescribe treatments, order tests, and diagnose patients—duties normally performed by physicians—whereas RNs are not.

How do you calm an angry patient? ›

Let's look at the “Steps for Defusing Angry Patients”:
  1. Do not take it personally. ...
  2. Be proactive. ...
  3. Calm yourself before you respond. ...
  4. Listen for the real message. ...
  5. Reassure and respect. ...
  6. Restate their concerns. ...
  7. Respond to their problem. ...
  8. Restart.
1 May 2010

What are the 7 core principles of the NHS? ›

What are the NHS Values?
  • Working together for patients.
  • Respect and dignity.
  • Commitment to quality of care.
  • Compassion.
  • Improving lives.
  • Everyone counts.

What are the 7 care values in health and social care? ›

Professional Values of Social Care
  • Choice.
  • Dignity.
  • Inclusion.
  • Independence.
  • Privacy and confidentiality of information.
  • Individuality and identity.

What are the 10 nursing ethical values? ›

The search yielded 10 nursing ethical values: Human dignity, privacy, justice, autonomy in decision making, precision and accuracy in caring, commitment, human relationship, sympathy, honesty, and individual and professional competency.

What are the 9 code of ethics for nurses? ›

What Are The 7 Ethical Principles On Which The Nursing Code Of Ethics Is Based? The 7 ethical principles the Nursing Code of Ethics is based upon include beneficence, nonmaleficence, justice, accountability, autonomy, fidelity, and veracity.

What are the 6 nursing values? ›

Why were the 6 Cs of nursing introduced? The 6 Cs – care, compassion, courage, communication, commitment, competence - are a central part of 'Compassion in Practice', which was first established by NHS England Chief Nursing Officer, Jane Cummings, in December 2017.

What is the most important characteristic for a professional nurse to develop? ›

Compassionate

One of the most important qualities of a good nurse is compassion. In their career, nurses will see patients suffer. Beyond simply offering a solution, they must be able to express compassion for patients and their families. This allows them to form meaningful relationships with their patients.

What is the most important characteristic of healthcare professionals? ›

Empathy and compassion. Above all else, a good health professional can show compassion to their patients and provide comfort when they need it. At times, your patients may find themselves in difficult or frustrating situations and they need someone to listen, to understand and respect their wishes or point of view.

What is the most unique characteristic of nursing? ›

Caring. The most unique characteristic of nursing as a profession is that, it is a CARING profession.

What are the characteristics of practitioners? ›

Here are six characteristics of a successful PR practitioner:
  • They are open to learning new tricks. ...
  • They build a good rapport. ...
  • They have strong writing skills. ...
  • They pay attention to detail. ...
  • They are always honest. ...
  • They know when to be a tough cookie.
13 May 2020

What are the 7 distinguishing characteristics of a professional? ›

7 Qualities of a Professional
  • You are excellent at what you do. You set high standards for yourself. ...
  • You take the high road. ...
  • You can be counted on. ...
  • You are calm under pressure. ...
  • You are proactive. ...
  • You go the extra mile. ...
  • You represent yourself and the organization in an excellent way.

What are 10 characteristics of professionalism? ›

True professionals possess a number of important characteristics that can apply to virtually any type of business.
  • Appearance. A professional is neat in appearance. ...
  • Demeanour. ...
  • Reliability. ...
  • Competence. ...
  • Ethics. ...
  • Maintaining Your Poise. ...
  • Phone Etiquette. ...
  • Written Correspondence.
16 Sept 2016

What are the 6 characteristics of a profession? ›

FUNDAMENTAL CHARACTERISTICS OF A PROFESSION
  • Great responsibility. ...
  • Accountability. ...
  • Based on specialized, theoretical knowledge. ...
  • Institutional preparation. ...
  • Autonomy. ...
  • Clients rather than customers. ...
  • Direct working relationships. ...
  • Ethical constraints.
10 Mar 2016

What do you need to be good at to be a nurse practitioner? ›

Nurse practitioners must be able to help people make the right choices about their health and well-being. They often lead other nurses in the practice, as well. Good communication skills, even when dealing with cultural and language barriers, will help nurse practitioners do well in their work.

How do I become a successful practitioner? ›

10 Success Tips from Experienced Doctors
  1. Avoid Burnout. ...
  2. Cultivate a Great Bedside Manner. ...
  3. Get up to Speed on Nutrition. ...
  4. Solicit Feedback from Patients. ...
  5. Aim for Humility over Arrogance. ...
  6. Think Twice Before Using Social Media. ...
  7. Find Your Own Mentor. ...
  8. Never Stop Studying.
1 Sept 2022

What qualities characteristics do you consider important to be successful as a physician? ›

Here are eight of the most important physician traits:
  • Communication. Communication is an important part of any clinical practice. ...
  • Empathetic. It's important to understand and relate to a patient's feelings. ...
  • Passionate. ...
  • Forthright. ...
  • Professional. ...
  • Respectful. ...
  • Knowledgeable. ...
  • Thorough.
15 Mar 2019

What are the 7 trends in nursing? ›

In truth, past events (even some that occurred hundreds of years ago) still exert a profound influence on current nursing practice, particularly in relation to seven basic trends: image, education, advance- ment in practice, war, workforce issues, licensure/regulation, and research.

What are the 5 C's in nursing? ›

According to Roach (1993), who developed the Five Cs (Compassion, Competence, Confidence, Conscience and Commitment), knowledge, skills and experience make caring unique. Here, I extend Roach's work by proposing three further Cs (Courage, Culture and Communication).

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