Personality Type and Nursing

[Mesomorph]

If you don't want to read it all that's fine. Just take this test and post your four letters (the preference % isn't necessary but you can if you want) or just post your type if you already know it: http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes2.asp

You can read about your type here afterward. It's actually very fascinating stuff: http://www.typelogic.com/

I was just thinking about how much I'm struggling with nursing whereas before I've succeeded in every academic endeavor in which I invest my time and efforts. I operate from a very internal locus of control, so I'm not blaming my hardship on my personality type... but Nursing is inherently very structured... systematic... "real-world"...

So, while I made 99s in highschool, persisitent As and Bs in one of the most academically challenging private schools in this part of the US (with As and Bs often being 95+ and 85+)... I find myself at a loss... Making a D on my first nursing test (I was in the bottom three) and barely making a B on my second (pretty much average).

Anyway, I don't tell you that just to brag or something but to show the contrast between then and now. While I'm not considering changing my major (far too late for that) I have wondered to myself how much personality plays into it.

MBTI has two types dealing with how one organizes one's thoughts and approaches the world. The "s-type" or "sensing type." Sensors are very focused on the real world. They are naturally structured. The "n-type" or "intuitive type" are the creative individuals who might have a room that looks like a hurricane hit it, but can paint a mural like you've never seen.

I'm the creative type... I've done professional graphic design work.. I draw... I write music.. I write poetry... sing... I spend hours on nature photography... But my organizational skills can be crap, my room is notoriously messy, and my ability to memorize these endless assessment procedures is pretty low. I've found that almost all of my peers are s-types through talking with them and just figuring out how they operate.

It dawned on me that a large part of my particular level of difficulty with nursing is probably the very way my brain is wired!

So... what are you... S-type or N-type?

My type is actually very rare. I'm an INTJ.

You can read about it here: http://www.typelogic.com/intj.html

I wonder if N-type nurses are as rare as male nurses. I'm a murse by the way .

[3grlmom]

your type is

[color=#d000a0]isfj[color=#d000a0]introverted[color=#d000a0]sensing[color=#d000a0]feeling[color=#d000a0]judgingstrength of the preferences % [color=#d000a0]11[color=#d000a0]25[color=#d000a0]25[color=#d000a0]22

isfj type description by d.keirsey

isfj type description by j. butt and m.m. heiss

qualitative analysis of your type formula

you are:

• slightly expressed introvert
  
• moderately expressed sensing personality
  
• moderately expressed feeling personality
  
• slightly expressed judging personality

[txspadequeenRN, BSN, RN]

your type is

[color=#d000a0] estj[color=#d000a0]extroverted[color=#d000a0]sensing[color=#d000a0]thinking[color=#d000a0]judging strength of the preferences % [color=#d000a0]33[color=#d000a0]12[color=#d000a0]62[color=#d000a0]89

estj type description by d.keirsey

estj type description by j. butt

qualitative analysis of your type formula

you are:

• moderately expressed extrovert
  
• slightly expressed sensing personality
  
• distinctively expressed thinking personality
  
• very expressed judging personality

[RGN1]

Another ENFJ here!

[teeituptom, BSN, RN]

The Test said that I as an Introverted Psychotic Golfing addict, I agree with this.

reading through there some idiot compared George HW Bush to Mother Teresa

What a miserable and sad thing to say to Mother Teresa. I take great offense to this in their article

[RGN1]

The Test said that I as an Introverted Psychotic Golfing addict, I agree with this.

reading through there some idiot compared George HW Bush to Mother Teresa

What a miserable and sad thing to say to Mother Teresa. I take great offense to this in their article

:rotfl::rotfl: Just like my DH!!

[smk1, LPN]

esfj 56, 12, 25, 67

[Antikigirl, ASN, RN]

lol....i am a your type is

[color=#d000a0]enfj[color=#d000a0]extroverted[color=#d000a0]intuitive[color=#d000a0]feeling[color=#d000a0]judgingstrength of the preferences % [color=#d000a0]1[color=#d000a0]50[color=#d000a0]38[color=#d000a0]33

[texas2007, BSN, RN]

Before nursing school, I scored ISFJ more than once. Now I'm second semester and have gotten INFJ the last two times I've done the test. Hmm..

[Celia M, ASN, RN]

I am an ENTJ, and a manager of ICU, med/surg/tele:wink2:

[Works2xs]

INTJ here also.

These personality sorters look at what your preferences are. Think of it like "handedness." You have 2 hands, but usually prefer to use one more than the other (e.g., left-handed). The tools for examining these preferences identify the general level of your particular preferences. It doesn't mean that you never use the other side of any particular preference. Everybody uses every aspect at one time or another. While each preference type has strengths, any strength taken to the extreme becomes a liability.

So why bother with knowing this stuff? The hope is that in knowing your preferences, you can be aware of the times those preferences are not working well and try things from a different perspective. For example...

When I was a project manager, at one point I had an assistant that I seemed to be at odds with a great deal of the time. Finally, one day, I asked her a question about money allocations on "the project". Her response to me was, "what project?" I thought I'd burst a vein! I couldn't believe she would ask what appeared to me to be painfully obvious.

Reflecting back on the idea of personality types, I spent a few moments analyzing what was occurring in our work relationship. For me, I knew that I had a strong "iNtuition" preference. When I said, "the project" it was "intuitive" to me that since I was only working on one project with this particular assistant, there could only be one answer, i.e., the specific project was intuitively known. Wouldn't this be as obvious to anybody?

Well, not really. The assistant appeared to have a very strong "Sensing" preference, i.e., she preferred to collect information based on very specific terms. So when I asked about "the project" without being specific, it ran contrary to how she preferred to gather information. For her, if it wasn't specific, it wasn't identified. For me, the identification of the information was "obvious" and therefore needed no specifics. Thus, there was a conflict. So, instead of me saying, "oh, she's an "S" and therefore not capable of grasping the obvious." I realized that I could get what I needed by adapting my preference for the iNtuitive to be more Sensing. Having made this observation, I was able to try the new approach out. It worked like a charm. Future interactions with this individual were much more smooth and we both enjoyed a less contentious working relationship.

So the moral of the story is that the personality tool is something to help you out with interactions with other people. When you find yourself having difficulty communicating with a co-worker, partner, boss, etc., look at your preferences and see if you may be experiencing a conflict with the preferences of the other. Often, the conflict can be resolved by simply tweaking your approach.

Here's a bit more info for those not familiar with these types of tools...

E/I - this grouping looks at how you "recharge" your internal battery. The E-types do it through external, interpersonal relationships. I-types retreat to an internal exercise such as reading a book. A classic conflict is when the E-type gets home at the end of the day and wants to talk to their partner (or friends, etc.) in order to unwind. While the I-type wants to stop talking and read a paper or book to unwind.

S/N - This attribute looks at what your preferences are for how you collect information. As in the example with the project assistant above, the S-type prefers to collect information in specific, clearly defined bits. The N-type prefers to collect info from context.

F/T- This attribute looks at your preference for processing the information that you have collected. F-types prefer to process based on how those affected will emotionally respond. The T-types tend toward how it fits in a logical sense. It should be noted that it's entirely possible that the same decision can be arrived at using either approach. One approach doesn't become "wrong" when the other approach was used and the result was "good."

P/J- This looks at your preference for either collecting or processing information. For the P-type, you can't have enough information. Decisions can be put off till the last moment so that all possible data can be collected. The J-type prefers to make the decision, even if it means closing the books before all the data points are collected. [My wife's a strong P-type and I'm just as stong on the J-type end of the scale. When I decide to go out to get something, the decision's made and I plan accordingly. On the other hand, my wife sees me getting ready to leave and immediately sees an opportunity. If I'm going to the store for "x", would I please make a stop along the way for "y". I get irked because I've made a decision and I want to leave. She gets irked because since I haven't left, it only makes sense that I'd welcome the chance to gather more data about what to do on my trip. I jokingly refer to this phenomenon as her "P-ing on my J".]

So, for the OP, the personality type doesn't tag you as either "good" or "bad" for any particular job. While it's true that some professions tend to attract certain personality types, it's not because of any deficiency in aptitude or ability. It's more a matter of a field offering opportunities to work and interact in ways that accommodate their individual preferences. Since we all have the entire spectrum of types within ourselves, we're all capable of performing in any particular profession. In fact, from a management perspective, you want a mix of personality types within your area of responsibility. It helps to prevent being blind-sided by considerations that hadn't occurred to you and/or your group. (Remember "New Coke"? I wonder if that was a decision made by a heavy T-type group? Perhaps if there were more F-types, someone would have asked the question, "Yeah, it's logical. But will anybody like it?")

Hope this helps.

[nptobee]

I'm an INFJ too

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

INTJ -- and lord, I agree about shopping. I'm a woman, but when I go to the mall, I know what I'm going for, I park at the end of the mall where I'm going to come out with packages (easier to walk a long distance without my arms full), and I go in and get it. Makes me nuts when I'm with someone and they're like, "oh, let's go over here...did we see this...maybe they have a sale...." Then again, I'm so used to having to time my life between pages from the data center on my beeper, maybe I just have the attention span of a mayfly....