9 Essential Soft Skills for Nursing
Written by:
Wilson College
• Sep 22, 2025
In hospitals, doctor’s offices, and other healthcare settings, nurses administer medical treatments and care for patients with many different types of medical issues. Nurses rely on their clinical knowledge and skills to provide high-quality care in a safe manner. Nurses also need soft skills when caring for patients.
The nursing profession emphasizes patient-centered care, a holistic approach that prioritizes compassion, respect, and responsiveness. Providing patient-centered care requires strong soft skills. Nurses develop these essential soft skills in nursing school and throughout their careers.
Why Do Nurses Need Soft Skills?
Soft skills play a critical role in nursing practice. Soft skills in areas such as communication, teamwork, and critical thinking allow nurses to build trusting relationships with their patients and collaborate with other healthcare providers. Also known as people skills, nurses with these soft skills are better able to provide quality care to their patients.
On self-assessments, nurses are most concerned with strengthening their soft skills, according to a 2024 study published in NursingOpen. The study also found that nurses with high-level people skills report greater productivity and job satisfaction.
Nurse educators see helping aspiring nurses hone their soft skills as a critical part of preparing them for the healthcare workforce. “All the practical lessons that are offered should incorporate soft skills,” one nurse educator said in a 2025 BMC Nursing study. Another added, “It is those skills that enable someone to be able to relate better with other individuals. These are skills that are based on interpersonal relations.”
9 Soft Skills for Nurses
What are the most important soft skills for nurses? Recent studies identify skills in areas such as critical thinking, emotional intelligence, communication, and teamwork as being key to success for nurses.
The following essential soft skills help nurses provide high-quality patient care and advance in their careers.
Communication
Effective communication is at the heart of quality medical care. Being able to communicate well is one of the most essential soft skills in nursing. In addition to needing to communicate medical information to patients and their families, nurses also must be able to clearly convey important information to other healthcare professionals.
Critical Thinking
Nurses use their clinical judgment to make decisions about treatments and care plans. Strong critical thinking skills allow nurses to quickly assess situations and take action.
Nurse educators rank critical thinking proficiency as a top soft skill. As one participant in the BMC Nursing study said, critical thinking “promotes being open-minded,” which can help improve interpersonal relationships.
Patience
Repetitive duties and difficult patients can tax any nurse. The ability to remain composed allows nurses to continue to provide quality patient care regardless of the situation.
Patience allows nurses to respond calmly to situations before intervening, maintain positive relationships with patients, and convey medical information in a way that patients can understand.
Conflict Resolution
Leadership roles in nursing require well-honed conflict resolution skills. Nurses who resolve staff conflicts effectively can help maintain a positive work culture and team morale. Teams that work well together and can resolve disagreements peacefully tend to be high functioning.
Conflict resolution skills include being able to understand others’ viewpoints, build solid relationships, and deescalate disagreements.
Compassion
Providing compassionate care requires nurses to understand their patients’ pain and attempt to relieve it. Nurses must bring empathy and respect to their role in order to properly care for patients.
Many nurses point to a desire to help others as motivation for becoming a nurse. Compassion also allows nurses to build relationships with patients and provide patient-centered care.
Emotional Intelligence
Nurses need to be both self-aware and socially aware. Research demonstrates that emotional intelligence correlates with productivity and job satisfaction.
Attention to Detail
Clinical effectiveness in nursing requires a detail-oriented approach. Nurses need to be skilled at paying close attention to details to be able to accurately document care plans, administer treatments, and provide timely care.
Nurse leaders also rely on their attention to detail to implement patient safety practices and improve patient outcomes.
Stress Management
Nursing can be a stressful profession. Nurses draw on their stress management skills to avoid becoming overwhelmed or burned out.
Having a set of reliable coping mechanisms and calming practices helps nurses manage their stress. Nurse leaders can also create a supportive work environment that prioritizes self-care.
Leadership
Leadership skills allow nurses to delegate tasks, supervise personnel, and provide mentorship to members of the care team. Nurses rely on their leadership skills to take responsibility for patients’ safety and act professionally.
RNs with strong leadership abilities can move into a higher-level role such as head nurse or nurse manager.
Benefits of Earning an MSN
A Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree program helps nurses strengthen both their clinical and soft skills. An MSN program can help prepare RNs for an advanced role such as nurse educator or nurse manager.
Students in an MSN program focus their coursework by choosing a MSN specialty. Nursing professors and supervisors provide clinical feedback and encourage MSN students to develop their people skills. In particular, an MSN program can help nurses build their leadership, critical thinking, and communication skills.
Nurses with a MSN lead care teams, educate nurses in patient care practices, and provide direct patient care. Enhancing critical nursing soft skills through an MSN program can help nurses advance professionally.
Develop Your Nursing Soft Skills With an MSN from Wilson College Online
Nurses can develop their essential soft skills by enrolling in the MSN program at Wilson College Online. MSN students learn how to treat patients holistically, improve patient care, and act as a confident leader.
Designed for working nurses, the program offers tracks in Education or Leadership and Management. In addition to the MSN program, Wilson College Online offers an accelerated RN to MSN for RNs without a bachelor’s degree.
Reach out to Wilson College Online today to learn more about earning your MSN.
Recommended Readings
Can Nurses Increase Their Salary With an MSN?
Why Earn an Advanced Degree in Nursing?
Sources:
American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Compassionate Care
American Association of Colleges of Nursing, Person-Centered Care
American Nurse Journal, “The Case for Soft Skills in Nursing Education”
