Nursing is a mentally strenuous profession. You need to be smart. Able to memorize dense materials and adapt to complicated situations. Every working nurse on the planet will tell you that critical thinking is a life-saving skill in the hospital setting.
They will also tell you that, most of the time, the job requires a much subtler set of skills. Yes, you need to be smart and hardworking. You also need to understand people. Patients who feel comfortable do better than those who do not.
If you have ever had a prolonged interaction with the healthcare system, you know how much your nurse’s social skills influence the experience.
As a school counselor, you are uniquely positioned to influence future generations of nurses in your community. Healthcare recruitment can— and should— start early. In this article, we take a look at why you should point students with strong soft skills in the direction of nursing careers.
First: Why Nursing?
Yeah, that job everyone seems to be leaving? Why tell a kid they’d have a fun time doing that? For one thing, a frequent reason that people leave nursing careers in the first place is because they weren’t a good fit for the work.
The goal here, of course, is to select students who would be a good fit. We read in the news about people who didn’t like nursing. No one reports on people who do like it. “Headline, headline, nurse likes job,” isn’t a story. It’s a fact of life for hundreds of thousands of people all over the world.
So, yes. The goal is to find people who will be a good fit. Those potential future nursing candidates will benefit from:
- A competitive salary. Nurses aren’t out there getting rich but they do earn higher than the national average, in many cases coming in at upper five figures as they advance.
- Rewarding work. Nurses also just do a job they can be proud of. Most careers don’t give a person the opportunity to save a life. That’s a responsibility that can make the right person excited to go to work.
- TONS of opportunities. Though often unknown to outsiders, a BSN holder has many career options that extend beyond hospital work. There are dozens of ways to use a degree in nursing.
As a high school counselor, you could do a lot worse than calling a kid’s attention to a lucrative career they will love.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that there is room for advancement that often is not highlighted sufficiently. Nurses can go to graduate school where they can become licensed as nurse practitioners.
Family nurse practitioners function almost exactly as a general practitioner might. In fact, many people see them for general care appointments.
In other cases, NPs can specialize. For example, a nurse who likes to work with babies can become a neonatal nurse practitioner. Professionals who are passionate about mental healthcare can become psychiatric nurse practitioners.
Nursing is an incredibly flexible career path, with almost endless options for people who are willing to continue their education beyond a four-year degree.
What are Soft Skills, and Why Do They Matter for Nurses?
Soft skills are often framed as abilities that can’t be taught. Communication. Organization. Your ability to relate to other people. In reality, a person can take steps to develop their soft skills, but native ability is certainly beneficial.
In healthcare, soft skills can have demonstrable benefits. As a patient, you want a nurse who can manage their time effectively, right? You want someone who communicates in a way that you can understand—because so often the patient knows next to nothing about what is going on.
You also just want someone you like. That’s the more complicated aspect of “soft,” ability. You don’t necessarily need to seek out the most charismatic people in the school as good nursing candidates.
Nurses are often more introverted and thoughtful. You instead want someone who can leverage empathy effectively in everyday communications. Patients benefit enormously from care providers who can demonstrate that they care, even during short interactions. When you go to the doctor’s office, the exchanges you have are often very brief.
A healthcare provider who can demonstrate that they care even during a very short exchange will help produce better overall patient outcomes.
Other Considerations
Soft skills are great, but they aren’t the only thing you should look for when calling healthcare careers to your students’ attention. As you nudge people toward nursing, make sure you are thinking beyond the stereotypes.
We all have our internalized biases. Usually, they come to us not by conscious effort but simply because our brains are naturally inclined toward shortcuts. We see so many middle-aged, white female nurses that these are the people we imagine when we think about the profession.
Unfortunately, the lack of minority representation in healthcare has come at a steep price. Black patients in particular experience disproportionately poor healthcare outcomes relative to the rest of the population.
This anomaly is seen often as a communication problem. Majority group nurses and doctors, despite good intentions, simply are not as effective at relating to and understanding patients who come from different backgrounds than them.
As a guidance counselor, you have a uniquely powerful influence over that dynamic. Think about directing male and minority students toward healthcare when you come across students who could be a good fit.
Conclusion
The solution to healthcare shortages is neither easy nor quick. While hospitals are working on improving working conditions and developing other retention strategies, the ultimate fix will be to introduce a new wave of good-fit nurses to the profession.
As a school counselor, you can play an important role in this process. And as a community member, you have every motivation to do it. The kids sitting across the other side of your desk represent the future of healthcare in the town where you live.
What bigger motivation could you have? Start making a point of directing ambitious students with strong soft skills toward healthcare. It’s as good for them as it is for you.
