Personality and Personal Growth:
​Traits for Healthcare Professionals

The healthcare field is fast-paced and your personality type and personal development goals are a critical aspect of you being successful. It is important that you examine the traits that are important for people in this field. Just like all lines of work, working in healthcare is not for everyone. If you can make sure that you have the right traits, you are one step ahead of the game and you are increasing your chances of making sure that you will also be fully fulfilled in this career.

You Communicate Effectively

You have to be able to communicate well with coworkers to ensure that your patients are getting the best care. You also have to communicate well with your patients to make sure that they are getting everything that they need.

You Are Emotionally Stable

You are going to experience stress and see things that are horrible and emotionally powerful. You have to be emotionally stable in order to effectively cope with the rigors of the job. While there are things you can never be prepared for and it is perfectly okay to have emotions, you need to know when to keep them in check.

You Have Empathy

You have to be able to relate to all of your patients or else you cannot be successful in healthcare. Many patients are experiencing the worst times in their lives and they need someone to put themselves in their shoes and really understand what they are going through. This allows you to deliver effective care to everyone.

You Are Flexible

You have to be flexible because no two days are exactly the same. One day might be light and relatively easy where the next day involves death and difficult patients. Of course, your days tend to vary greatly two and there are no two hours that are going to be alike. This is true no matter which field of healthcare you go into.

You Pay Attention to Details

You have to pay attention to detail or else you cannot effectively provide care. The smallest change in your patient can be detrimental to them and you must be able to pick up on this or else your patient can suffer. Make sure that you always make note of the small things.

You Have Interpersonal Skills

You have to be able to work with all types of people, including coworkers, patients and patient families. You have to know that what you do and say is something that they are able to fully understand. This also ensures that you are getting what you want and need from your career.

You Have Physical Endurance

You are on your feet all day long when you work in healthcare. You also have to be able to lift and move without getting tired. You will work long shifts and need to be able to keep your energy and focus throughout the entire shift.

You Have Problem-Solving Skills

Every shift, you will run into a problem that you need to solve and you have to be able to do it quickly. This could be a matter of life and death in some instances. Make sure that you can quickly evaluate a problem and be able to offer a solution.

You Respond Quickly

You have to be able to respond very quickly in healthcare, especially when a patient is declining. When it comes to medical emergencies, you sometimes have mere seconds to save a patient so you have to be able to respond and respond correctly for the situation at hand.

You Are Respectful

You must be able to respect all of your patients no matter what. You will have deal with patients who are not taking care of themselves and many patients are very sick and quite grumpy. You have to show them respect no matter what to be effective at your job.

Now you understand more about your personality type how it works to create your personal development goals. You also understand why these traits are so important for your personal development plan. If you have the right personality type, you will find this type of work enjoyable and this is critical for success in this field. It is a high stress job and one that requires an immense amount of passion to be a part of. Make sure that all of these traits are strong and you will find that this is the right career field for you.

References:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19668062

http://aptekadara.com/