How to build excellent relationships as a nurse advisor

With technology as its catalyst, the healthcare industry continues to evolve and grow. As a result, nursing specialist jobs have expanded far beyond hospital walls, opening several nursing careers options for both newly registered nurses as well as accomplished nurses seeking change.

In fact, the Bureau of Labour Statistics predicts that nursing employment will follow a 7% increase by 2029, stimulating just over 220,000 additional nursing jobs in the US alone. With job opportunities in nursing on the rise across the globe, aspiring and established nurses are leaning towards specialist roles.

One role that’s climbing in popularity is that of nurse advisor. This job is favoured because it gives the candidate an authoritative position. Nurse advisors instruct and make recommendations to non-clinical staff on medical issues while ensuring the best outcome for patients.

However, the success of this role requires that the nurse develops intricate skills, one of which is the ability to build excellent relationships. Just like it’s important for medical sales reps to network, a nurse advisor also needs to recognise fellow healthcare workers and patients, and then work on establishing healthy, trusted relationships with them.

A strong practitioner-provider and patient-provider relationship facilitates cooperation and ignites greater opportunities to explore unique health needs and treatments, with the focus on improving overall health.

If you are pursuing a career in nurse advising or if you’re looking for ways to climb the ladder as a nurse, then you’ll find the following relationship-building advice to your advantage:

Build trust

Building trust with patients and co-workers starts with your own confidence. If you aren’t confident in yourself, your colleagues, and your patients won’t be confident in your competence.

Once you are confident, you can work on solidifying relationships built on trust. But remember, trust requires honesty, which means you also need to remain transparent without offsetting the need for alarm.

In the end, this funnels down to emotional intelligence – a necessary skill for all healthcare workers to have before they enter the workforce.

Empathise

A study by the Technological Educational Institute of Lamia found that patients who were cared for by nurses who showed high levels of empathy were less anxious, depressed, and hostile than those cared for by less empathetic nurses.

This is because empathy provides insight into another person. If you can relate to and understand your patients and health providers, you can understand what it is that motivates them.

Empathy builds bonds between people, and when others feel we truly care, we foster trust and open communication.

Be present

A career as a nurse specialist can be overwhelming and there are often several things happening at once. Sometimes this means that when you are with a patient or health provider, you aren’t 100% focused on them.

Practice drawing yourself back into the moment so that you can be present. Use touch or eye contact to reassure your patients and colleagues that they are your priority. You may just find that grounding yourself this way provides insight into your next step and quickly organises the chaos around you.

*This advice is also important for medical sales reps who are eager to improve their careers through relationships.

Start your new nurse advisor career with IQVIA

At IQVIA, we connect qualifying candidates to nurse advisor specialist vacancies so that we can help our clients improve their patient care.

If you have the core skills and strengths needed for a medical sales career or a nurse advising job, then IQVIA can help you find a purposeful role. Our team is dedicated to creating solutions for our clients by connecting them to the very best candidates, creating a workforce where everyone thrives.

Browse our latest nurse advisor specialist jobs and join and help us to change healthcare for the better.