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Before you enter the nursing field, it’s important to honestly assess your personality, as it is critical not only to your success, but to your happiness as a nursing assistant. Nursing is a very demanding career, as you’re working with sick people all day long- along with dealing with the physical aspects of patient care. We’ve compiled a list of the most important personality traits every nursing professional should have:

1. Truly caring for others: Enough said-it should be the number one reason you’re a nurse!
2. Empathy: you’ll need to be understanding of your patient’s condition and personality, dealing with them in a warm and sympathetic manner, without losing your cool.
3. Emotional stability: It’s a nerve wracking business, nursing, at times. It’s important to be able to handle situations and patients calmly and under control.
4. Attention to detail: Imperative! Take notes, writing everything you do on the patient’s chart, remembering medication and timing, etc.
5. Physical endurance: You’ll be on your feet most of the day. In addition, you’ll be physically moving patients around, helping them in and out of bed, or helping them to walk.
6. Adaptability: This is no assembly line job! Every day is different, and situations arise quickly. Be able to change direction when needed, and expect change on a daily basis.
7. Exercise good judgment: With professional training and certification, good judgment is part of being an effective nurse.
8. Think on your feet: Your actions and decisions can mean the difference between life and death for your patients. You should be able to make decisions quickly and act on them.
9. Excellent work ethic: If you’ve read this far, you can see that nursing is challenging on many levels. You’ll have to expect to work hard to succeed.
10. Communicate! It’s critical to the patients and to your team to communicate effectively, whether it’s the patient’s chart, or in a critical situation. Calm, clear communication is essential.

It’s true that nursing can be a very challenging career. However, it’s also one of the most rewarding. Helping patients heal, giving them great care, and making their lives better are all terrific ways you’ll benefit as a nurse. And the more of these 10 personality traits you possess, the happier you’ll be as a nursing professional.