Find out the skills that a clinical nurse specialist requires for performing duties effectively.
A clinical nurse specialist is involved with performing highly specialized roles which require great expertise to perform such as in geriatrics and pediatrics. The nurse is called upon to help in high-level emergency cases and those that require great skills to handle. So to be in better position to do this you need to have within you essential skills to help you dispense your duties perfectly. A clinical nurse specialist needs to have education at a graduate level for masters or a doctorate. In most cases, the nurses take leadership roles or become advisors to other nurses. This calls for various skills that include critical thinking, writing skills, proper judgment abilities, social perceptiveness and coordination skills.
Critical Thinking
As a nurse, you will need to deploy your critical thinking skills so as to solve some of the problems that you will face. You need to be in a position to use logic and reasoning so as to be able to develop sustainable solutions for the various problems you will face at your workplace. With critical thinking, you will be able to choose the best solution and see it through.
Writing skills
During your work, you will be required to do some paperwork and these calls for you to be good at your writing skills. You will be required to write letters, memos and what have you. Ensure to use good grammar, proper punctuation and proofread your work to remove the typos. Also ensure that your writing is clear, concise and straight to the point. This will prevent confusion and misunderstandings.
Proper judgment abilities
It is an all-important skill that any nurse should possess. As a clinical nurse specialist, you will be faced with high-pressure situations and you need to be calm and make the correct decisions. You will be required first to consider all factors in play, cost and benefits of the choices you will make to make the better choice.
Social Perceptiveness
Being a nurse you will have to work with various people. Some you will be comfortable working with, while others it will be a frustrating affair. The bottom line is you should learn to understand people and their perspective. You should be aware of their reactions and their behaviors and try to find out why they do what they do. This will prevent unnecessary friction between you and your workmates and even the patients.
Coordination
There will be times the workload will be so much and you will need to get it done in time. This will require you to delegate and coordinate efforts with the other nurses and medical staff so as to finish the tasks at hand. With coordination, you will be adjusting or re-aligning your action so that they can be in line with those of your team members. With good coordination skills, works get done much quicker hence less pressure.