Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers

Patients in care facilities expect to be treated by professionals. Other staff want to work with fellow professionals. The following guidelines provide an overview of basic professionalism.

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First, appearance is important. A person who looks professional will feel professional, and others will treat the person that way. This means practice good personal hygiene and wear clean, unwrinkled, and mended uniforms.

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A professional person maintains good work practices, most notably attendance and promptness. Missing work or coming late to work sends a message that the work is not important. Personal issues such as transportation and childcare can make being at work or on time difficult, but a professional will make arrangements to not have these issues become barriers.  Work practices also include honesty and integrity. If a worker says he or she will do something, then he or she needs to do whatever is promised. The residents of health care facilities and their families rely on the health care workers to provide the care that is required.

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Professionalism can be summed up with the word “attitude.” Professionals have the attitude that they are professional, that doing a good job matters, and that treating patients and co-workers respectfully makes a difficult job successful.