Which of the following characteristics exemplified by a registered nurse is a leader trait?

6 Qualities That Embody a Good Nurse

The list of qualities that great nurses exhibit is endless. This is why narrowing the list down to just a few traits can be quite a feat.

Defined as characteristics, traits, abilities, talents, strengths, values, beliefs, or morals — qualities in a good nurse can be both personal or professional. These six qualities stand out.

1. You’re a person who deserves a high level of respect. 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.
2. You exhibit strong communication skills. You communicate well with patients and colleagues — sometimes at their worst life moments.
3. You effectively use critical-thinking skills to identify and solve problems. With this thought process, you aid in improving organizational protocols and patient care.
4. Your attention to detail helps you successfully follow instructions from colleagues and nurse leaders. By having this precision, you individualize care to meet each patient’s needs.
5. Your time management and delegation skills are top notch. This is especially helpful with patient care responsibilities.

1. You’re a team player, working fluidly with patients, families, and interdisciplinary healthcare staff. Your collaborative approach allows you to adapt to changing situations on the fly.

With years of education, training, and practice, you develop and strengthen these qualities and skills, enhancing who you are as nurse, as well as the entire profession.

The American public values good nurses

For two decades, the American public has ranked nurses number one in Gallup’s poll of the most ethical and trusted professions. In this year’s poll, 81% of people surveyed ranked nurses as very high or high in ethical and honesty standards.

The American Nurses’ Association [ANA] applauded this accomplishment in a press release.

“Nurses ranking in this year’s poll directly reflects the trust the American public has in nurses and the work they continue to do to earn that trust, even amid a persistent pandemic,” said the ANA.

You deserve so much praise for all your years of working with patients and their families, and what greater compliment can that translate into than having the public acknowledge your honesty and ethics?

And at the heart of every hardworking nurse is a dedicated nurse leader. These leaders bring so much value to the profession. Their contributions are moving the nursing profession and healthcare forward, and it’s an honor to have them at the nation’s healthcare planning and decision-making tables.

However, nurses on the front lines are the ones who interact with patients the most and are who the general public tends to think of when defining qualities in a good nurse.

Front-line nurses and other nursing professionals constantly work toward professional licensure, certifications, and advanced degrees, and seek out more extensive training and clinical expertise to improve patient care.

These nurses are the foundation of the profession’s outstanding Gallup poll results. These professionals continue to earn the admiration and praise of patients across America — truly embodying qualities in a good nurse. Maintaining such a position of esteem in the minds and hearts of Americans for so many years is proof that you’re good at what you do.

It’s not just the polls that demonstrate how highly regarded you are or how much you’re admired. Similar sentiments often come in the form of:

• Patient satisfaction surveys
• Letters or statements from grateful patients
• Commendations from physicians and other healthcare colleagues
• Various sources in anecdotal stories

A desire to help

As a nurse, your generosity of spirit, special sensitivity, and desire to help, comfort, and provide care is at the center of every healthcare setting.

You’re privileged to be allowed into patients’ lives in the most personal ways at the most important times. You’re the ones patients talk with, ask for, and remember after discharge.

When deciding on nursing as a career, you didn’t think about letters of appreciation, survey statistics, or Gallup poll results. You chose nursing because you wanted to be part of something important, challenging, and rewarding. Something you knew you would be good at, and something that would bring fulfillment and empower you and the work you do for the rest of your life.

These qualities and more are what makes you a nurse, and by exemplifying these characteristics each day in practice, you show that you’re a great nurse.

Learn more about these qualities through the following courses:

Managing Your Time
[1 contact hour]
Time management is a core skill of 21st century nurses. It’s the key to improving outcomes, keeping patients safe, and reducing burnout. This module identifies strategies to help nurses be more productive, more efficient, and less stressed.

Communication With Patients
[1 contact hour]
Effectively communicating with patients and families is the foundation for a therapeutic, safe, and positive patient experience. Communication is also a vital component of obtaining an accurate history and physical assessment, providing informed, comprehensive care, and educating patients and families to achieve optimal outcomes.

Working as an Interprofessional Team
[0.50 contact hour]
The goal of this course is to enhance the knowledge and ability of nurses, health educators, dietitians, and radiology technologists in the acute care setting to work as cohesive members of the interprofessional team.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in March 2019 and has been updated with new content.

Eileen Williamson, MSN, RN, continues to write and act as a consultant for Nurse.com. Before joining the company in 1998, Eileen was employed by North Shore-Long Island Jewish Health System in New York [now Northwell Health System] where she held a number of leadership positions in nursing and hospital administration, including chief nurse at two of their System hospitals. She holds a BSN and an MSN in nursing administration and is a graduate fellow of the Johnson & Johnson University of Pennsylvania Wharton School Nurse Executives program. A former board member and past president of the New Jersey League for Nursing, a constituent league of the National League for Nursing, Eileen currently is a member of the Adelphi University, College of Nursing and Public Health Advisory Board.