Nursing, as a career takes a jack-of-all-trades. You can go to school and finish top of your class and be a horrible nurse. There are so many skills needed to be a good nurse. Nursing is my second career, the prior vocation I held for fourteen years was a department manager in retail. Several traits learned and created through my years of retail came in handy as a nurse.
#1 The ability to talk to people
It may sound funny, the ability to speak with people as an essential trait, but there are people who never really had to communicate with the general public. When working in retail going up to complete stranger to ask if they need help then answering questions becomes second nature. It wasn’t until school that I noticed during clinical some students were unable to talk to patients and forgot how to make small chat. A nurse needs to walk into a room to verify the last bowel movement of the patient, some people lack the confidence. Whether a student or nurse having all the answers is not the point, being able to direct their question to the person able to answer or being able to find their solution. The confidence to walk into a room and make small talk will make the nurse-patient bond that much more intuitive.
#2 Eye Contact
Eye contact is a non-verbal communication that conveys you’re listening and to some extent invested in the conversation. Not making eye contact the patient may feel you are untrustworthy, disconnected, and too busy with other things. Direct eye contact when talking with the patient when answering questions will initiate and continue an open dialog.
#3 Reading People
Nonverbal cues are so important in retail, just like in the hospital. The ability to read the person allows you to figure if they are sarcastic, dead-serious, or have a warped sense of humor. In retail, people walk into the store and will start to complain about the smallest details, this could be how the person reacts to they could be having a bad day. Either way, reading the customer is the best way to guide the conversation. Walking into a room where the patient was just diagnosed with cancer or a family discussing treatment care or hospice for their elderly parent are not times to walk in the room smiling and chipper. Matching the tone of the room will convey compassion and sincerity.
#4 Customer Service
Although communication both verbal and non-verbal are essential to finding out how your patient is feeling or assessing any other needs of the patient. Customer service is also aiding the patient and getting them the items to make them happy. If a patient wants ice, get them ice with a smile, that’s customer service. Hospitals are graded on customer satisfaction so right now more than ever customer service and patient satisfaction places a significant role. Retail is all customer service.
No matter the job or career service you might have had in the past there is something in every field that can be brought with you.