The Importance of Soft Skills in Healthcare
It goes without saying that technical skills are mission-critical in healthcare: the ‘hard’ or clinical skills developed through formal education and training. But what we call ‘soft skills’ are also essential. These are the attributes providers need to communicate and empathise with their patients and collaborate with their team members. What’s more, they are proven to have a significant effect on patient care, relationship-building and health outcomes.
At TTM, people sit at the front and centre of our business, and as a healthcare worker we want to help you deliver the absolute best in patient-focused care. For the good of your patients, and for your own personal development. So, let’s take a closer look at what we mean by ‘soft’ or ‘people’ skills and understand the positive impact they can have.
What Are Soft Skills?
Hard skills are assets such as training and qualifications and they can be easily assessed and evaluated. They are job-specific and vary across different care settings: for example, nurses need hard skills such as the ability to administer medications, provide wound care and perform CPR. Alternatively, soft skills or ‘personality skills’ are much less tangible and are defined as ‘the personal qualities that enable you to communicate well with other people.’ They are the skills and abilities you use to relate to patients, colleagues and peers and can contribute to effective leadership, teamwork, communication, and overall professionalism. Soft skills can also include emotional intelligence, teamwork, time management, problem-solving and a strong work ethic.
What Are Some Important Soft Skills?
Interpersonal Soft Skills
Communication - Good, clear and honest communication with your patients, their families and your colleagues is your number 1 soft skill as it ensures patients receive the right care when they need it. Apart from preventing medical errors and building trust, effective communication can help put a patient’s fear at rest and ensure they understand treatment options. Remember, communication can be non-verbal too (body language) – and listening to what your patient has to say is just as important.
Empathy and Compassion - The ability to understand and share the feelings of others is key to your role. By putting yourself in your patients’ shoes you can provide the care that is right for them and you are better able to understand and meet their physical and emotional needs. This builds trust and leads to happier patients and better health outcomes.
Teamwork - A team player attitude is important for healthcare professionals as it allows you to collaborate with your colleagues and interdisciplinary teams in an effective way towards one goal: your patient’s health. In a high-pressure healthcare environment, difference of opinion can easily lead to conflict and communication breakdown – so effective conflict resolution is essential to ensure a smooth-running, harmonious work environment.
Personal Soft Skills
Flexibility - Healthcare is seldom a 9 to 5 job, so you need to be flexible about work hours. You also need to be able to adapt to different and sometimes challenging health care settings, work with many different people and embrace innovative technologies, procedures, and regulations.
A good work ethic - Professionalism, positivity and punctuality as well as reliability and the ability to manage time and plan priorities are non-negotiables. Your work can be pressured and the hours long, so you need to be committed to your career and have a strong drive to succeed.
Critical Thinking - Healthcare workers need to be able to bring together lots of information, make the best decisions and solve problems under pressure.
Stress Management - Proper stress management techniques will protect your patients and safeguard your own physical and mental health and wellbeing.
Confidence - In your patient-facing work it is so important to project confidence and be self-assured.
Ethical Practice - You are expected to adhere to moral standards and principles, while making sure patients receive quality care and are treated with dignity and respect.
Why Are Soft Skills So Important?
Soft skills complement technical skills to improve overall patient care and satisfaction. What’s more, they are the skills most keenly felt by patients and their families. Most patients will not be able to assess your clinical skills – so their experience of your soft skills determine how they rate your care. For example, research tells us that a doctor’s empathy can have a profound effect on patient outcomes: the way they treat and communicate with patients can be the difference between triggering stress or encouraging hope. Here are some more reasons to develop your soft skills:
- Soft skills improve patient safety. Care teams that work together and communicate effectively are less likely to make mistakes.
- Soft skills build excellent relationships between healthcare providers and patients – enhancing the therapeutic bond.
- Soft skills promote empathy – reducing patient anxiety, decreasing malpractice complaints and improving overall health outcomes.
- Soft skills contribute to diversity, equity and inclusivity – embracing ethnicity, race, gender identity, sexual orientation, religion and socioeconomic status.
- Soft skills are crucial to long-term health. A patient who has been respected and involved in their treatment and feels confident when discharged is more likely to attend follow-up appointments – for optimum health outcomes.
- Soft skills play a key role in your career development. Prospective employers will pay attention to the soft skills that set you apart.
- Soft skills such as adaptability, creativity, decision-making and leadership help drive organisational change management.
- Soft skills such as strategic thinking, collaboration and communication keep teams effective and efficient.
Developing Soft Skills in Healthcare
Soft skills are all about people being at their best, to deliver their best – something we truly value at TTM. So, how can you acquire and develop soft skills as a healthcare provider?
An important strategy is to look out for training and workshops in soft skills. You can learn a lot on the job too – so observe your seniors and peers as they work and be sure to take advantage of any mentorship or coaching programmes offered. Self-reflection is a valuable tool in improving your soft skills. For example, if you have had a particularly challenging day or experienced a conflict or difficulty, sit quietly and reflect on what you did right and what you could have differently for a better outcome. And of course, nothing will help you improve your people skills more than listening to what your patients tell you – so take on board their suggestions and feedback.