One of a nurse's main jobs is to take direct care of patients.  You’ll likely see these people at their worst.  Nurses need to understand that their patients are human beings that are probably stressed, scared, depressed, upset, in pain, and confused.  This understanding requires the ability to be compassionate and empathetic.  Being able to put yourself in your patient’s shoes will help you understand what she's going through, and what she needs from you.  Often times, because a patient sees nurses most often, those nurses get the brunt of any anger the patient is feeling.  Being compassionate and empathetic means you do not take this anger personally.  Patients are likely sick or injured and not having a very good day!  Understanding that some patients may need to release their anger in order to reduce their stress or fear is what being compassionate is all about. In addition to patients, nurses often deal with the family and friends of their patients.  Being compassionate and empathetic means being able to show those family members and friends that you truly do care about your patient and are doing your absolute best to help her.  The following six steps can help you learn to be a more compassionate person: Step 1: Listen without judgement or formulating an immediate response. Try to understand the person's feelings, needs, and wants so that you can formulate a plan to best help her. Step 2: Reply back to the speaker based on her emotions and not her words.  For example, mean and angry words are likely a sign of someone who is scared or fearful. Step 3: Make sure you have someone who is compassionate to you.  This means having your own support system at or outside of work.  If you have a million problems on your mind, it may be harder to care about the problems of others. Step 4: Think about the whole person, not just who she is at that very moment.  You’re going to see many people at their worst, but that’s not who they really are.  Remember that there is much more to your patients than just what you see. Step 5: Think about a time when you were in a similar situation.  You may have an actual memory of your own you can borrow from, or you may simply need to imagine yourself in that situation.  Think about all the emotions you went through (or would go through) and how you felt (or would feel) in that situation. Step 6: Be able to forgive yourself for failure.  In essence, have some compassion for yourself.  You’re not going to be perfect.  You’re going to make mistakes.  But you’re human, and that’s normal.  Don’t beat yourself up. Being a nurse means you’re going to see people at their very worst.  You’ll likely have to take care of patients who are about to die.  You may need to take care of patients in an extreme amount of pain.  You may need to take care of patients who have just been diagnosed with a life-threatening illness.  Constantly being around people who are suffering can take an emotional toll on you.  As a nurse you need to be able to control your emotions while you’re on the job, and not allow those emotions to cloud your judgement or slow your reaction time.  Being emotionally stable doesn’t mean keeping all your emotions bottled-up forever.  It means knowing when the time is right for letting those emotions out.  And allowing yourself that emotional release on a regular basis. Try exercise, time with friends, yoga, reading, and developing hobbies. Emotional stability also doesn’t mean developing an ice-cold personality where you do not allow yourself to care about anything.  You need to allow yourself to care about your patients in order to provide them with compassion and empathy. Having, or being able to have, emotional stability may mean you have to do certain things outside of work so you’re able to control your emotions at work.  One helpful way to develop stable emotions and have better control over your mood is to practice mindfulness. This means being in the moment without thinking about the past, the future, or anything judgmental. Being a responsible nurse means not cutting any corners.  Not allowing yourself to make an error, but if you do, making sure the proper people know about the error you made and making sure it’s corrected as soon as possible.  Being responsible also means using your best judgement when evaluating a patients' needs and making good decisions that are in the best interests of your patients. If you are a nurse that works in an emergency room or an operating room, or something similar, you also need to be responsible with your time.  You need to understand that things do not always go as planed, and emergencies do not happen on a schedule that matches your shifts.  A good nurse is prepared to work longer if necessary and understand that’s just part of the job. . In addition to being compassionate, empathetic, and sympathetic to your patients and their needs, you also need to be respectful and non-judgemental about the decisions your patient has made in life.  It is not up to you, as a nurse, to judge your patients.  It is up to you to help them and make sure they leave you care in the best possible condition — regardless of how they may have ended up in your care in the first place.  It also means not treating patients differently because of their backgrounds, ethnicity, or personality.  A homeless man who is being treated for a drug overdose deserves just as much respect from you as a pregnant woman who has been hit by a car. Being respectful of your patients also means being truthful with them.  When communicating news — good or bad — you need to understand that the patient has the right to honesty.  Be straight-forward with your patients, but do it respectfully and with compassion. Keeping calm means maintaining your level-headedness.  It means having confidence in what you’re doing and the decisions you’re making.  Your confidence will grow not only throughout your education, but the longer you’re on the job.  And as such, your ability to remain calm will also improve.  As a nurse, you can’t panic when something unexpected happens, and you can’t freeze up because you aren’t sure what to do.  When you’re first learning your job and there’s an emergency situation, a more experienced nurses may push you out of the way and take over.  Do not take this personally or be upset.  Use this moment to observe exactly what’s going on, what the nurse is doing and how, and the specific details that are driving the nurse’s decisions.  Watching a more experienced nurse, especially in a crisis, can be one of your most useful learning experiences. Find out if there are trainings offered to help you work through specific scenarios such as sudden cardiac arrest, respiratory arrest, or stroke. By attending these trainings, you can practice going through these steps in a less intense environment so that in the real situation, you will be able to work through it easier. As a nurse no two days will ever be the same.  While you may have some routine, it is likely that that routine will also change every now and again.  No two patients are going to behave the same, even when they’re getting the exact same treatment.  Nurses need to be adaptable and flexible.  Nurses need to understand that their work environment and job requirements will change on a daily basis.  Being flexible and adaptable, and just going with the flow, will not only help your day go smoother, it will help reduce the amount of stress you feel. Nurses, just like many professions, are constantly learning.  Whether they learn through a formal classroom environment, or simply by observing, doesn’t matter.  What matters is that you are constantly improving your knowledge and skills, and recognizing specific areas where you might need improvement.  It also means receiving feedback from your peers and supervisors critically, and working with your supervisor and others to correct any deficiencies you have with your skills.
Understand and have the ability to be compassionate. Have emotional stability. Take responsibility. Respect everyone Keep calm under pressure and during a crisis. Adapt to new and constantly changing situations. Improve your knowledge constantly.