Communicating as a Professional
Whenever we talk to high school students they always ask, “Why are we learning this?” Well, after researching it, now I understand why we learn all the things we do. Seeing how all types of skills play a role in everything we do or say, it’s really made me realize that since I wanna be a nurse I must have good communication skills. A nurse is always working and interacting with people, perhaps the people who know much more than them. No matter what profession we decide on our own, communicating as a professional is always something that is going to be critical in our future.
Kyle Weins, the CEO of iFixit, and Susan Adams, a writer for Forbes magazine, both make valid and extremely acceptable arguments as to why we all should have good grammar when in the workplace. We hear many people talk, and they use the words “like” and “um” used just like it is nothing at all (Adams). It seems to be second nature to many people. When we use sloppy grammar it really does let your intelligence level shine through in ways. I am not saying that we must be a grammar freak and always get everything correct, if so, great! But missing one little thing is not a very big deal. However, if grammar mistakes are constantly made that should be known, that shows a problem to business owners. Now, whether we like it or not people are always going to have something to say. They could say that a certain person has the best grammar in the world, but they could also say that the grammar they use is extremely sloppy and wonder why. Since grammar is constantly evolving, people seem to think that it makes grammar any less important in our career. That is extremely wrong! Now, Kyle Weins stated in his article that he has noticed people with better grammar tend to perform better on tasks far beyond just grammar (Weins). In high school we really do not think that anything you learn will pay off, however grammar is something that is really going to stick the rest of our lives. No matter what kind of job we choose, most likely we will be answering to people and sounding professional and knowing what to say is very helpful.
We hear people ask over and over again, “Why do we have to learn this? We won’t use it after school” Well, I hate to say it, but it is very important as we get older. It does not matter the profession, we decide, we will always need to have proper communication skills. My career, a Registered Nurse, constantly talking to numerous people. From patients, to doctors, and to family freaking out, anyone can name it and I’ll be talking to them. Having good grammar is really going to be playing a huge role. If I’m talking to a family member and they are not understanding what the monitor is saying and I’m using improper grammar, they’re most likely going to think that I have no idea what I’m talking about at all, which is something you never want to portray. In order to be successful, I will need to have good communication skills. Being able to talk to anyone that had higher knowledge than me and also the people who do not exactly know everything is key. Empathy is also a big thing needed in a hospital. When a family member is going through a hard time, we need to be able to be their shoulder to cry on basically. I have been in hospitals a lot with my family, and I understand how important it is to have somebody on our side when we need them. Writing is another important thing. Because I am going to be writing reports and observations down that everyone will be reading and seeing. So, say that I mess up a lot in my report, it is going to look like I have absolutely no idea what I’m talking about at all. Does that seem like a nurse you want? Grammar really does play a huge role in any kind of career you want later in life, so we need to take the time to learn it now (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Registered Nurses).
Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses when they communicate with others. Because I want to become a Registered Nurse, communication skills are key. I feel that I myself need to work on speaking with others. I have always been the kind of person to not speak as much in front of people. Yes, I am a very social and talkative person, but not talking much in front of people has always been something I need to work on. When I get into a setting where I can be told that what I’m saying is wrong, that is when I will not speak. I believe that I am fairly good at empathizing with people and what they are going through, especially if it will be in a hospital setting. However, I do feel like getting a better grasp on my writing skills will help tremendously. Not only will I be talking to crazy family, but I will have to write detailed and thorough notes about what is happening or happened, or what kind of medicine I gave to a certain patient. The doctors will read my notes when they come in and read the notes I have written, and if I am using improper grammar, or spelling important words wrong that is really going to show to other professionals that we have no idea what we are talking bout.
Now, can we all understand why good communication skills are so important? No matter the profession, we decide in our future, we all have to know how to use the grammar needed. We want our intelligence level to show when we speak or write. Using the words “like” and “uhm” all the time will not give people a good image of us. We go through school and we sit in class to learn the proper grammar, so why not show it? Why would we not want someone to think extremely highly of us because we talk how we are taught in school? If we just take the time to learn the grammar we are supposed to, it will make us feel better and also will help others to think highly of us.
Works Cited
Adams, Susan. "Why Grammar Counts At Work." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 20 July 2012. Web. 14 Dec. 2014 <http://www.forbes.com/sites/susanadams/ 2012/07/20/why-grammar-counts-at-work/>.
Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Registered Nurses.” Occupational Outlook Handbook 2014-15 Edition. 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 8 Nov. 2014 <http://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/registered-nurses.htm>
Weins, Kyle. "I Won't Hire People Who Use Poor Grammar. Here's Why." Harvard Business Review. Harvard Business Review, 20 July 2012. Web. 14 Dec. 2014. <https://hbr.org/2012/07/i-wont-hire-people-who-use-poo>.