The Seven Habits Of An Effective Nurse

The Habits of an Effective Nurse According to Stephen Covey, there are seven things a person must possess in order to be successful. In his novel The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People he addresses just that, ways to achieve success and effectiveness in all aspects of life. Often times, the word habit has a negative connotation; it is defined as a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up (Websters, 2014). The key words there are settled, regular, and practiced. Covey powerfully uses the word habit to ensure these seven pieces of advice are settled, regular, and practiced throughout daily life. The

Personality is superficial, whether a person outgoing or more reserved, it doesn’t involve their values. Character however, does. Covey places an emphasis on character as the basis for a quality life (Covey, 1989). The Seven Habits are as follows: be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek first to understand and then be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw. In nursing, these habits may be used throughout the entire profession, whether it incorporated into introductory and new graduate roles, or the management setting (Covey,

Just like a saw needs to stop being used in order to be sharpened, a nurse needs time off to recuperate; it’s as simple as that (Covey, 1989). It is important not to burn the candle at both ends, working more than the designated shifts and longer than 12 hours should be avoided. An example used regarding medication errors and working too many hours involves a nurse working a double shift on a pediatric oncology unit didn’t correctly prime an IV line and caused cardiac arrest in a patient (Kelley, 2004). Although nurses work three days a week, their hours remain the same as other full time employees that work the typical 5 day schedule. A nurse’s time off should be valued because they are the last line for patient care, they are the ones administering the medication the doctor prescribes and the pharmacy makes (Kelley, 2004). They need to be cognizant of not only their mistakes, but the mistakes of those making the decisions before them. Therefore, nurses should not be constantly asked to work overtime because that is how mistakes are missed or made (Kelley, 2004). Nurses should sharpen their saws between shifts and their days off, only then can they perform their absolute