Last updated on March 27th, 2024 at 02:24 am
Growing in confidence takes time for a new or student nurse. It is common to question if you know all the answers and second-guess yourself when making clinical decisions. Also, you might feel out of your depth when working alongside more experienced, knowledgeable nurses and healthcare practitioners.
Yet, you must remember that even the most experienced nurse can learn something new about the field. If you want to become more self-reliant throughout your career, here are six ways student nurses can build their confidence.
Table of Contents
Ask Many Questions
Never be afraid to ask questions as a new or student nurse. It is better to ask a question to make the right decision for a patient than to make a mistake that might affect their treatment or recovery.
The more questions you ask throughout the years, the more you will learn and grow in confidence. Make it your mission to learn from your colleagues and observe their behaviors to avoid mistakes and set the healthcare standard.
Enhance Clinical Judgment Skills
Exceptional clinical judgment is a fundamental skill in nursing, as it ensures nurses can quickly recognize and respond to patient deterioration immediately and make decisions to improve medical outcomes.
If you question if you have strong critical thinking skills or are eager to enhance your clinical judgment to make faster, more confident decisions, complete an NCLEX remediation course to grow your skills and confidence. The course will feature many interesting topics, from pharmacology to the body systems, to help you flourish in your nursing career.
Don’t Compare Yourself to Other Nurses
It is easy to compare yourself to other nurses, especially if you are a student or new to the field. Yet, comparisons will drain your confidence and force you to second-guess many decisions.
You will always meet nurses with more experience than you, even if you have been in the role for thirty years. Yet, you must rely on your knowledge and skills to follow in their footsteps and support patient care. Remember, you are on the same team, and you could even learn from their expertise to become a more confident nurse. Comparison will only stunt your development as a nurse.
Continue to Learn
Never stop learning as a nurse. After all, patients and their loved ones will rely on you to make quick, safe, and effective decisions and to communicate effectively with other healthcare practitioners.
The more you expand your knowledge, the easier it will be to make tough choices throughout your nursing career. For this reason, you must regularly take courses, brush up on your skills, read insightful medical journals and articles, and gain experience in many departments.
Work on Your Weaknesses
Don’t allow one or more weaknesses to stand in the way of your nursing potential. Start bursting with confidence by striving to improve on areas that feel challenging. Push yourself to repeatedly practice a skill that is damaging your confidence and efficiency as a nurse. Practice makes perfect, and a professional weakness could soon become your biggest strength.
Improve Your Communication Skills
Most experienced nurses will understand the importance of exceptional communication skills. After all, you must convey medical decisions to other healthcare practitioners, patients, and their loved ones. As the role requires much face-to-face interaction and difficult conversations at times, you might struggle in your career if you feel unconfident when talking to others.
For this reason, you must work on your communication skills to feel more confident when discussing treatment plans, comforting loved ones, or advocating for a patient. Also, improved communication will help you build more positive relationships, and you might feel more confident and comfortable addressing problems in a department.
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Conclusion
It is natural that your confidence might be a little shaky when training or entering the field as a qualified nurse. Yet, you shouldn’t allow a lack of experience to hold you back. Instead, you must view each day as an opportunity to learn from more experienced nurses, banish weaknesses, and take away a lesson from each patient you meet.
If you commit to life-long learning, work on your communication skills, and avoid comparisons, you might soon grow in confidence and feel more comfortable making tough clinical decisions.
