For nurses, especially those who are new to peer leadership positions, \u201csoft skills\u201d are important in career development. Being the best clinical and bedside nurse may mean little if other nurses are not buying into a new leader\u2019s vision. \u201cSoft skill\u201d development is vital for new Charge RNs, and these skills can quickly help set a new nurse leader apart from others. But these skills are hard to quantify and are not widely taught. Most nurses get into the profession to help patients, not to lead teams. HCA<\/a><\/span><\/strong> designed its Charge Nurse Leadership Program to address this critical skills gap:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe vision was to build a program based on the voice of nurses. The program would incorporate what the front line needed and wanted from a leadership perspective, with attention to meeting their needs and providing support for their careers.\u201d<\/p>Nurse Leader<\/strong>, Volume 17, Issue 4, p.331-334, “Investing in the Front Line: Preparing the Best Nursing Leaders for the Next Generation”<\/em><\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n So how can we encourage our nurses to develop these skills? And what are the top skills or techniques that should be learned?<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first way to encourage nurses to have a positive attitude towards soft skill development is to discourage the narrative that these skills are actually \u201csoft.\u201d These qualities can sometimes be interpreted as less valuable by team members, but try to keep that from happening. Tell the team that in today\u2019s super complex healthcare environment, and especially during the pandemic, that skills like communication, critical thinking, and teamwork are the skills that will yield big results when it comes to achieving organizational and team goals. Bristol Hospital<\/a><\/strong><\/span> builds on its Magnet success by teaching charge nurses these key skills:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cCritical thinking, decision making, effective communication, and conflict resolution all help to advance our nurses\u2019 practice,\u201d stated Kerry Yeager, Clinical Informatics Specialist at Bristol. \u201cThe participants were most engaged in the communication and conflict style assessments. I believe it gave them a greater understanding of how effective communication and conflict resolution skills impact patient care. As the charge nurse, these skills are essential.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Any newly learned skill or technique needs motivation behind it, and soft skill learning and development is no different. Teach nurses to write down reasoning for learning new techniques. For example, if your nurse wants to learn how to delegate work more efficiently, have her write down past situations where that skill would have helped the team, how it can help her lead in the future, and how she can practice that skill in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like any skill learned, practicing helps us to improve. Encourage nurses to think small at first, gradually increasing intentionality until a desired outcome becomes easier. For example, if there is a charge nurse on your team who generally is quiet and stays in the background in a group meeting, ask her to share a few more opinions at the next meeting. This may help with learning and may lead to her more actively contributing, and this skill may become more natural for her later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let your nurses know that taking care of themselves requires thought, time, and practice. It might mean finding a nutritionist, therapist, mentor, or trainer. Identifying nursing \u201cneeds\u201d and devising a plan to fulfill them requires a mix of soft skills, including time management, confidence, and adaptability. Investing in oneself is crucial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Better conflict resolution helps the entire team. In healthcare facilities, navigating conflicting personalities between coworkers, patients, and their families is hard, but a good nurse leader can resolve issues and minimize stressors. Healthcare delivery is stressful enough, even without personality differences. So with your team, practice resolving issues. There are many frameworks which can be used. For any nurse, and especially for nurses new to leadership, it is crucial to be able to listen, understand, and give instruction. When communicating with patients or colleagues, getting a point across without being condescending or uncompromising is a skill that should be practiced. Voicing suggestions and opinions with peers or those in a position of authority requires practice. \u201cAmong the leadership skills that were identified as being important to the role, communication was the most consistently reported area in which charge nurses needed to demonstrate effectiveness.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n When Nurse Managers and Directors are looking for young nurse talent for future leadership roles, they value those who lead by example, and are looking to improve. Encourage your team to practice positivity and professionalism by showing initiative and by thriving under direction. Let nurses know that serving as a good example and demonstrating a strong work ethic, flexibility, and positive attitude will help pave the way to future leadership positions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The truth is, skills usually labeled as \u201csoft\u201d will impact the \u201chard\u201d issues like organizational financial goals, patient outcomes, and patient experience which healthcare systems are eager to impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Are you interested in preparing your nurses to lead, especially those new to frontline leadership roles? NCharge\u00ae is an evidence-based curriculum that gives first level supervisory nurses the insights<\/strong>, interpersonal skill<\/strong>s, and business knowledge<\/strong> they need to more effectively manage, inspire, and lead. Our customers use NCharge to build nurse leader pipelines, increase nurse engagement and retention, and impact financial awareness and results. Critical leadership skills like communication, delegation, and conflict resolution require ample practice time. That’s one key reason that up to 70% of time in NCharge courses is spent in group discussions and interactive activities. Courses like \u201cSupervisory Skills for Positive Outcomes\u201d teach a collaborative approach to managing conflict, and Critical Thinking Skills for Charge Nurses teaches using a process to make informed decisions. Learn More!<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n —-<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Importance of Soft Skills In Nursing,\u201d Eastern Illinois University RNBSN literature, May 10, 2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSoft Skills That Deliver Hard Results,\u201d Health Leaders Media, Jennifer Thew RN, November 26, 2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe Importance of Soft Skills in Nursing, Hondros College of Nursing, Beth Smith<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cFostering soft skills among new nurses,\u201d Wolters Kluwer, January 28, 2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTop ten soft skills for nurses,\u201d Lippincott Nursing Center, Valeria Dziados MSN, CRNP, ANP-C, AGACNP-C, March 9, 2019<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n For nurses, especially those who are new to peer leadership positions, \u201csoft skills\u201d are important in career development. Being the best clinical and bedside nurse may mean little if other nurses are not buying into a new leader\u2019s vision. \u201cSoft skill\u201d development is vital for new Charge RNs, and these skills can quickly help set […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1605,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14,6,114,38,11,91,12,115,116,117,118,119,120,121,122,123,124],"class_list":["post-1585","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nursing-articles","tag-charge-nurse","tag-charge-nurse-development","tag-charge-nurse-development-program","tag-charge-nurse-leadership","tag-charge-nurse-leadership-development","tag-charge-nurse-leadership-training","tag-charge-nurse-training","tag-frontline-supervisory-nurse-leadership","tag-frontline-supervisory-nurse-training","tag-healthcare-leadership-development","tag-healthcare-leadership-training","tag-implement-formal-charge-nurse-leadership-program","tag-learning-to-lead-staff-nurse-to-charge-nurse","tag-nurse-leadership-development","tag-nurse-leadership-training","tag-supervisory-nurse","tag-training-nurses-to-be-leaders"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1605"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/labs.bch.agency\/catalyst\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ways to Encourage Your Nurses<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Change the entire \u201csoft skill\u201d dialogue<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Teach nurses to write down goals, and find motivation to obtain them<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Encourage working individually on each desired \u201csoft skill,\u201d – intentionality about practicing them<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Encourage your team to take care of themselves<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Which ‘Soft Skills’ Should You Encourage Your Team to Improve?<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
Encourage practicing conflict resolution techniques<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
See this article to learn more, \u201cNurse Conflict Resolution Strategies.\u201d<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nCommunication<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
According to Wellstar\u2019s JONA case study on \u201cThe Effectiveness of Charge Nurse Training\u201d<\/a><\/strong>:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\nPositivity and professionalism<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
NCharge\u00ae: \u201cNurses Learning to Lead\u201d<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Sign Up for our Monthly Newsletter:<\/span><\/h4>\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"