Effective Counseling Skills for Nurses: A Personal Reflection

This essay delves into the critical counseling skills required for registered nurses within the Australian healthcare system, emphasizing patient-centered care as mandated by regulatory guidelines. The paper addresses the ongoing debate regarding whether effective counseling skills are inherent or acquired, ultimately supporting the argument that these skills, including expert knowledge, interpersonal abilities, and communication techniques, can be developed through structured training and continuous self-evaluation. The author reflects on their own competencies, highlighting strengths in communication and empathy while identifying areas for improvement, such as listening skills and cultural sensitivity. The essay concludes by reinforcing the importance of practical experience alongside formal training to enhance therapeutic outcomes for patients and improve overall nursing practices. The essay also references key literature to support the arguments.

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Introduction
The Australian healthcare system requires each of its registered nurses to deliver patient-
centred plan of care as stated in the guidelines and frameworks that define and regulate
nursing practices (ACSQH, 2019; Nursingmidwiferyboard.gov.au, 2020). Patient-centred
care requires the nurse to communicate with the patient constructively and serve as an
effective helper by providing the right counseling to the patient. However, there has been a
long debate about becoming an effective helper for counseling (Sharma, Bamford &
Dodman, 2015; Hackney & Bernard, 2016). This paper discusses the argument and personal
reflection on the chosen side of the argument. This paper stands with the argument that the
skills required for counseling are specifically defined and can be learnt by potential
counselors with significant success irrespective of possessing or not the skills initially.
Argument
Recovery is a term used for an experience or journey unique to a person to deal with clinical
conditions, specifically mental conditions Recovery refers to a unique personal experience,
process or journey that is defined and led by each person with a mental illness Recovery
refers to a unique personal experience, process or journey that is defined and led by each
person with a mental illness (Www2.health.vic.gov.au, 2020). As a registered nurse abiding
by the standards and framework of practices outlined by the respective Board, my practices
of delivering care are more focused on patient-centered plans. To successfully implement this
plan, effective counseling of the patient is crucial (Sidani & Fox, 2014). Convincing
counseling calls for essential skills, which include expert knowledge, personal dispositions
and excellent interpersonal skills (Jing, Derong & Ting, 2016). I believe that the core
competencies required for effective counseling by nurses is higher than a discrete skill set or

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potential and can be learnt by the nursing practitioner by proper training as it also requires
continuous self-evaluation and learning with practice on the practitioner’s end.
I believe that one of the core competing skills required by the nurse counselor is self –
knowledge. This is a critical skill that requires the nurse counselor to look within and develop
the knowledge known before applying it to the patient or client. This knowledge cannot be in-
built in an individual and has to be taught to the nurse during their course of nursing training.
A nurse counselor can be useful to the patient only if they have the right knowledge on the
treatment plan and most effective option of care. This expertise cannot be present from the
beginning but needs to be taught and instilled in the nurse counselor. Other essential skills
include those of communication such as rapport building, interpersonal skills convincing
power of the speech. These abilities can be developed practically over time with proper
guidance (Browne & Hurley, 2018). These skills do not necessarily have to be inherently
present in an individual. They can also be developed with practice. The next essential skill for
an effective nurse counselor is the listening ability. This skill is often considered as a no-
brainer skill but has a more in-depth nuance to it. An effective helper needs to listen to the
patient and not just hear them. Listening is different from hearing in involving critical
analysis of the content of speech of the patient, the tone of delivery and the context as well.
Nurse counselors need to cultivate the skills of taking a non-reactive stance and be able to
differentiate between hearing and observational evaluation to accurately assess the patient.
Rather than a formal training on developing this skill, it develops over time with applying the
skill with patients. However, a formal introduction to this skill is important so that the helpers
are aware of developing it (Meier & Davis, 2019). Another essential skill of an effective
helper is multicultural competency. The counselor must be aware of the differences prevalent
in cultures and the associated gaps in mindset and opinions. The counselor must be trained
and guided adequately to deal with differences in opinions due to cultural diversity.

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Some skills such as accessibility and genuineness of the helper are rooted in the nature of an
individual. These skills cannot be taught by formal training or be developed externally. These
are characteristics of a person’s nature and are difficult to alter. A good counselor should be
easily accessible to all their patients to build the patients’ trust. More importantly, the nurse
counselor is required to be empathetic and genuine in their communication with the patient
and professional persona. This skill is a chief ingredient in progressing the therapeutic
recovery of the patient (Ozturk, 2017). Another chief skill, which is already present in
individuals is sense of humor. Often, nurse counselors face traumatic and uncomfortable
cases of patients and may also have to hear the patient out. A good sense of humor in the
counselor eases the tension of the situation and speeds up the therapeutic recovery process of
the patient by laughing along the process (Gladding & Drake Wallace, 2016).
These two skills mentioned above are inherently present in certain individuals which if
developed in the right direction into effective counseling. It cannot be instilled in any person
by formal education or training on the same. However, the individual needs guidance to
improve and utilize these skills in counseling the patient effectively. A nurse needs formal
training and guidance on becoming a competent counselor to deal with the patients and
improve their therapeutic recovery.
Personal reflection
I believe I am competent in communication and interpersonal skills with patients. I
effectively communicate with the patients by building a rapport with them and understanding
their opinions on the treatment plan to speed up the process of recovery. Another strength of
my counseling skills includes empathy towards my patients and genuineness in my work
practices. This builds good relations with my patients and develop a plan incorporating their
opinions in it as well as encouraging them to follow the care plan suggested. Besides, I try to

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make myself accessible to all my patients as much as possible. I make myself available to the
needs of my patients and discuss all of their concerns appropriately. This is a critical aspect
of increasing the therapeutic output of the patients’ recovery. Also, being relatively new in
this role as a registered nurse, my knowledge of applying suitable care plans is fresh and
updated, which adds an advantage of dealing with the patient’s case appropriately.
I aim to improve some critical counseling skills to address my patients better. I believe I need
to improve my listening skills, as I often miss out on the underlying evaluating factors while
communicating my the patient who could have been more helpful. Understanding the tone
and context of my patients require more practice. Moreover, I also aim to improve my
knowledge of the different cultural backgrounds and inculcate these cultural practices in the
care of the patients if they request it. Adding aesthetic treatment ideas in treatment has shown
faster recovery in patients. I firmly believe that a more structured training on enhancing
listening and communication skills, coping with cultural diversity and traumatic cases is
required to counsel the patients better and increase the therapeutic output of the patients and
enhance the nursing practices.
Conclusion
Lastly, to conclude, I believe that the patient-centered approach of care delivery, as outlined
by the Australian government, practical counseling skills are fundamental in this context.
There exists a dilemma between these skills being inherently present in potential counselors
and the possibility of developing these skills in counselors. While a minor count of skills are
potentially present in all individuals and is an extension of their nature, most of the skills
essential for counseling can be cultivated in the nursing professionals with structured training
and guidance. Along with training, practical experience is an essential element in becoming a
useful helper.

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References
ACSQH (2019). Partnering With Consumers Standard In: Australian Commission on Safety
and Quality in Healthcare.
Browne, G., & Hurley, J. (2018). Mental Health Nurses as therapists in a rehabilitation
setting: A phenomenological study. International journal of mental health
nursing, 27(3), 1109-1117.
Gladding, S. T., & Drake Wallace, M. J. (2016). Promoting beneficial humor in counseling:
A way of helping counselors help clients. Journal of Creativity in Mental
Health, 11(1), 2-11.
Hackney, H. L., & Bernard, J. M. (2016). Professional counseling: a process guide to
helping. Pearson.
Jing, C., Derong, L., & Ting, Z. (2016). Effect of psychological counseling skills on nurse-
patient communication. Modern Clinical Nursing, (12), 7.
Ozturk, H. (2017). Smiling and accessible health services: Assessment of patients. New
Trends and Issues Proceedings on Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(2), 31-40.
Sharma, T., Bamford, M., & Dodman, D. (2015). Person-centred care: an overview of
reviews. Contemporary nurse, 51(2-3), 107-120.
Sidani, S., & Fox, M. (2014). Patient-centered care: clarification of its specific elements to
facilitate interprofessional care. Journal of Interprofessional Care, 28(2), 134-141.
State Government of Victoria (2020a). Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights. In:
Department of Health and Human Services, Government of Victoria.

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Www2.health.vic.gov.au. (2020). Recovery-oriented practice in mental health. Retrieved 23
March 2020, from https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/mental-health/practice-and-service-
quality/service-quality/recovery-oriented-practice-in-mental-health