- Working from home can be isolating. As a bedside nurse, you’re surrounded by colleagues who work closely with you throughout the day. You're with patients, you have a defined shift and might have specific meds and treatments administration times and your documentation should be completed by the end of your shift.
- Working from home is different for sure. While a lot of people envision working in their pajamas and an easy work day, I can tell you it's not easy and it's not for everyone. If you thrive on face-to-face interaction with people, you're not going to like working from home. Here's a list of characteristics or qualities you'll need to be successful working from home:
- Disciplined and Self Motivated
When you work from home, you typically plan your day to accomplish all required job functions and tasks. As a nurse case manager, you may have to work through a specific number of patients each day. As an EMR specialist, you could be working on a project for months and you must plan each day to meet the set deadline.
In either case, you’ve got to be disciplined to ignore distractions like chores, TV and pets. Similar to nursing school, you must be self-motivated to stay on task, because you won’t have a boss physically looking over your shoulder.
- Tech-savvy
The majority of your work will be done on a computer. Depending on your role, you’ll likely get a laptop, printer and smart phone. Some companies also supply their nurses with iPads.
Unlike most hospitals, you won’t have physical access to a computer support person. You’ll likely have phone access to a helpdesk if something comes up that you can’t solve on your own.
You won’t need to know how to install an operating system, but you’ll need to know some basic tech troubleshooting steps and how to run an update. This stuff is easy to learn. You can certainly manage and your company may provide some training to get you started.
Organized
I think this is an essential skill all nurses should have. As a bedside nurse, you were likely organized. You had to keep your cart clean and organized for an efficient med pass. You had to try to keep your desk and med closet organized as well. (This was harder to do when others share the same space)
That said, if you were a messy bedside nurse, you might have a hard time keeping your files and documents organized when you work from home. This is something that can be developed through establishing a system in order to be productive and efficient.
- Strong Communication Skills
This is key because it’s much harder to get a message across via email, than talking to someone directly. Your verbal and written communication skills must be excellent. While some companies conduct meetings via video, the majority of your communication with your team will be via email, chat and text. This is where spelling, grammar and punctuation become your friends. Without them, you run the risk of seeming unprofessional.
- Desire to Learn
Depending on the employer and the job, training may be provided upon hire. The training won’t be as extensive as the new hire training in a clinical setting. You may be left to determine what your knowledge deficits are. You’ll be responsible for seeking out opportunities to learn new skills.
For example, in my role, I review the clinical data from the EMR. This entails using Microsoft Excel to analyze the data. I’d give myself a solid B in Excel skills. Yet, in order to do some detailed analysis without relying on my colleague, I need some more advanced Excel skills.
As a result, one of my professional goals is to take an Advanced Excel class this year. I love to learn new things and build my skillset. As nurses, we’re have to learn about the new meds, treatments, procedures, etc. so this should come easy to you.
