For all INFP personality types only

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I posted something similar several years ago when I was in nursing school, but I am still stumped and trying to find my niche. Started off in med-surg/cardiac floor and completely hated it.. it was too much for me. I then took a clinic position doing just phone triage but realized that 1) I wasn't going anywhere with this, and 2) I felt that I didn't have the knowledge base and experience yet for answering patient questions over the phone. Most recently I tried NICU and failed. Too slow at learning the technical stuff and got extremely stressed over the time management of four patients from day one. Not only could not absorb and learn, but I felt like too much was thrown at me too soon, and I am one who has to see the whole picture and not just "jump right in" before I know exactly what I'm doing. I have come to the realization that floor nursing is not for me. Maybe not even nursing. Psych or community health is probably my best bet with this personality type, however, it is difficult to land a job like this without a year of hospital experience-which I don't have. I'm considering the O.R. Any thoughts? (Please be kind :)

I would like to know if you are an INFP what area you work in.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

I am an INFP. With the exception of a PRN job in psych that I worked back in 2006, virtually all of my experience is in LTC, subacute rehab, and acute rehab. In addition, since I am an introvert, I do much better on night shift because day shift exposes me to way too many people (families, doctors, management, therapy staff, vendors, dietary, etc.). I cannot stand being pulled in multiple directions. I do not like to schmooze or engage in excessive small talk.

Some people are adrenaline junkies who love chaos, a fast pace at work, excitement, and function well in a high-pressure, life-or-death environment. On the other hand, I like a slow pace, stable routine, low stress, low pressure, and peace and quiet. In other words, I function best when I do not need to move with a sense of urgency.

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Specializes in School Nursing.
I am an INFP. With the exception of a PRN job in psych that I worked back in 2006, virtually all of my experience is in LTC, subacute rehab, and acute rehab. In addition, since I am an introvert, I do much better on night shift because day shift exposes me to way too many people (families, doctors, management, therapy staff, vendors, dietary, etc.). I cannot stand being pulled in multiple directions. I do not like to schmooze or engage in excessive small talk.

Some people are adrenaline junkies who love chaos, a fast pace at work, excitement, and function well in a high-pressure, life-or-death environment. On the other hand, I like a slow pace, stable routine, low stress, low pressure, and peace and quiet. In other words, I function best when I do not need to move with a sense of urgency.

So, in your honest opinion, do you think working as an OR Circulator would be just out of the question for our personality type?

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Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.

I want to add something to this. I felt like such an utter failure when I aced nursing school and then failed at my first nursing job. I was -totally- out of my element and I had no idea why. I just thought I sucked and was a failure. I don't know why it was so easy for me to believe that but I did. It is nice to know I'm not alone. I don't wish this on anyone, but apparently there are those of us who have the same issues and it's not our fault! We are what we are, and for whatever reason, bedside nursing does not come naturally to us. I totally agree that I HAVE to see the big picture - and it has to make sense to me - before I can just start 'doing'. And that does not translate well to bedside nursing, although I think we are the safest kinds of nurses because we think about and analyze every aspect of what we're doing, but that also makes us SLOW. But the way nursing has gone, there is no room for people like us who are slower and more methodical in our manner. It doesn't mean we are bad people or even bad nurses - just that the way nursing has evolved, we have been pretty well pushed out of it. You can't be slow, period. And well, I am slow. But I think and analyze and very little gets past me, so I doubt I would ever make a major med error or something like that. Anyway, I don't know what the answer is, I'm just glad there are others out there like me. :)

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Specializes in School Nursing.
I want to add something to this. I felt like such an utter failure when I aced nursing school and then failed at my first nursing job. I was -totally- out of my element and I had no idea why. I just thought I sucked and was a failure. I don't know why it was so easy for me to believe that but I did. It is nice to know I'm not alone. I don't wish this on anyone, but apparently there are those of us who have the same issues and it's not our fault! We are what we are, and for whatever reason, bedside nursing does not come naturally to us. I totally agree that I HAVE to see the big picture - and it has to make sense to me - before I can just start 'doing'. And that does not translate well to bedside nursing, although I think we are the safest kinds of nurses because we think about and analyze every aspect of what we're doing, but that also makes us SLOW. But the way nursing has gone, there is no room for people like us who are slower and more methodical in our manner. It doesn't mean we are bad people or even bad nurses - just that the way nursing has evolved, we have been pretty well pushed out of it. You can't be slow, period. And well, I am slow. But I think and analyze and very little gets past me, so I doubt I would ever make a major med error or something like that. Anyway, I don't know what the answer is, I'm just glad there are others out there like me. :)

This is so reassuring to read this. I aced nursing school also and received a scholarship. Class work was easy for me. I felt paralyzed with fear in clinicals though. Hated them. Not the patients, but it felt scary and foreign to me. Like you, I can't just "jump right and in and do" I have failed my two short attempts at bedside nursing: first on a cardiac med/surg floor, and most recently in NICU. In the NICU, there was no time to learn and absorb. It was four babies at a time with vents, tubes, and all kinds of equipment. One day I was told to hurry up and push potassium through the feeding tube and that we were late and needed to be with the next baby. My hands were shaking, she didn't even want me to look at the potassium I was about to push, and no time to look it up in a book. It was horrible. I felt like I didn't know what the h*** I was doing! I'm so scared to take the OR job because I feel like once again, although not bedside nursing, I am going to set myself up for failure :(

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Sorry to sound stupid; but what does INFP and INFJ mean? I still don't get all the abbreviations people use on the internet :o

http://www.personalitypage.com/html/high-level.html

Click on the link above to read about the 16 different Myers-Briggs personality types.

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Specializes in Critical Care.

you worked in a NICU and had 4 patients to care for? I thought ICU's are only 1 or 2 patients max.

Perhaps part of the problem is a hospital with insufficient staffing.

Maybe if you could find a better staffed hospital, one with 4 to 6 patients max on a medical/tele floor. Or an ICU with only 1 or 2 patients.

I think the lack of proper staffing ratios is the culprit when people have trouble just out of school. I'd look for the best staffed hospital system I could find.

Usually unionized hospitals have better staffing.

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Specializes in L&D; GI; Fam Med; Home H; Case mgmt.

Yep, I feel ya. I dreaded clinicals as well. My best nursing school buddy was my opposite - she had trouble with school but absolutely thrived on the floor. I am very book-smart but terrified being on the floor. The feeling of having peoples' lives in my hands truly terrified me. It was a responsibility I never took lightly. But when my preceptor on L&D asked me why I always seemed to have "fear and trepidation" no matter what was happening it really made me think. My first patient on L&D was a postpartum mama of 5. The morning after birthing, she was taken down for a tubal ligation. Upon return to the floor I did an assessment and she was fine. Her husband and kids came to see her. At one point she pushed her call button and I came in. She asked me to come over to the bed. She was holding the blankets up so the kids couldn't see, but she was hemorrhaging like nothing I'd ever seen before. Although I didn't panic outwardly, I was FUH-REAKING OUT on the inside. I went and got my preceptor and the midwife and they took over. Although she had to have 5 pints of blood, she recovered. After that I was a basket case. I never let my guard down and I always felt overwhelmed. I was always waiting for "the other shoe to drop". Luckily there wasn't a repeat of that situation, but it just never felt anything but totally overwhelming. Then I went on nights and the bottom dropped out. I won't go into details but it didn't take long and I was gone.

I'm not sure what it is exactly that causes people like us to feel that overwhelming sense of responsibility and the fear that comes along with it, but I wish I could change it.

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Specializes in School Nursing.
Wow, you REALLY remind me of me. I am also INFP. I have gone from an ENFP to INFP in the past 5 years or so.

After being hired on L&D even before graduation & NCLEX I thought I had it made. But I had similar issues as you describe, and then I had to go on nights and crashed and burned. I was forced to leave before my probationary period was up. Then I started working PRN at a free-standing Endo clinic doing post-op (loved it - it was a little too easy though), and also a physician's office (loved it too). Did those for 2 years, then I got the job I have now - Clinical Supervisor at a Home Health Care agency. I supervise all CNA cases that we staff. It is mostly office work (I thrive on it) and being in the field 1-2 days a week doing supervisory visits to our clients while they have our CNA in the home. It was a year March 10. Although there's been a learning curve, I have done pretty well. I don't know that this is what I want to for the rest of my career, but it was a saving grace for me. Bedside nursing just does not seem to be where I belong, but I constantly feel pulled to do it. I don't have the clinical skills I would like to have at this stage of the game. But then again, I truly enjoy the job I have now; I am in my element. I orient CNAs upon hire, I supervise them at their work sites, I do evaluations on them, competencies, open new cases, write the clients' plans of care, audit my CNAs time sheets every week, be sure we are being compliant with state and fed regs, etc. This sort of thing might be for you too. It's not easy to get a position like this but if you feel it could be a job you would thrive in, you should at least try to pursue it. I wish you the best!

Hi CFitz,

I just now saw your first post.. (see how scatterbrained I am? lol) I think we have communicated in the past. We do sound A LOT alike. I also have fluctuated in the past from borderline ENFP to INFP, now it is always consistently INFP. Glad you found your niche, at least one for the time being, and hopefully I will too!

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Specializes in LPN.

I took the Myers-Briggs test in a psych course once, where the results were printed on a graph showing exactly where on the spectrum you are. I am very much INF. But my P is actually within 10% of being J. It is my understanding that the test is copyrighted and can't be found in its complete form online. However, some of the copies do seem fairly accurate.

I went in to nursing with the original goal of midwifery, though I haven't made it there yet. I enjoy working one on one with people, but have been known to fall apart when too many things are going on at once. I also am relieved when I hear others talk about time management issues. I keep thinking those skills should come with experience, but it is still a big weakness for me.

I work night shift in LTC, with around 40 pts to manage. I have never liked LTC, but have no other real options as an LPN. One of my managers once said she thought I would do well in ICU. She believed I get overwhelmed trying to keep everyone straight when I have so many pts, but when an emergency arises I do very thorough assessments and am complete and detailed in describing the situation to others.

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Specializes in Tele, Cardiac Post Op, ER.

Hey guys! I'm glad I found this thread. I'm an introvert by nature but I took an er position for a change of pace from my previous job in cardiac step down. I love talking to patients and finding out their life stories. I like teaching them how to manage their illnesses and give tips about healthier lifestyle choices. I don't like the aggressive personalities in my er though and I have a problem with the way they handle patients. I find the environment stressful and I have trouble sleeping at night because I worry about the things I did wrong during the previous shift. Also I do nights which adds to the sleep deprivation. I am very interested in going back to get my masters fnp so I can start working in the clinic setting. This environment is too much for me sometimes. I need quiet time to decompress and think about things.

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Specializes in cardiology/oncology/MICU.
Hey guys! I'm glad I found this thread. I'm an introvert by nature but I took an er position for a change of pace from my previous job in cardiac step down. I love talking to patients and finding out their life stories. I like teaching them how to manage their illnesses and give tips about healthier lifestyle choices. I don't like the aggressive personalities in my er though and I have a problem with the way they handle patients. I find the environment stressful and I have trouble sleeping at night because I worry about the things I did wrong during the previous shift. Also I do nights which adds to the sleep deprivation. I am very interested in going back to get my masters fnp so I can start working in the clinic setting. This environment is too much for me sometimes. I need quiet time to decompress and think about things.

Yes there is no shortage of strong personalities in ER's all over the place. I also can identify with the lack of sleep that comes from nights. I go home and try to rest, but if something wakes me at noon, I will be up and down the rest of the day. It's a hard way to live. I want FNP as well. I would like to do it in the hospital acute setting and eventually in a primary care role as I get older. Good luck to you!:)

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Specializes in pediatrics.

Interesting thread. I am also an INFP. My first jobs out of nursing school were ER and then a busy day surgery unit. I sucked at both in time management. From there, I went on to dialysis and it was a terrifying experience, but I became good at it, as it was pretty much routine after you got the hang of it - same patients, similar meds. .so yes, I can relate to all of your personality traits and quirks above. I have found my niche finally in doing pediatric home health care. I have a daughter who is severely disabled from complications of prematurity, so going into people's homes and caring for their kids one on one is a really good fit for me. Not every state offers in-home nursing for peds, but it certainly is a growing population with neonatal now saving every baby no matter what pretty much, and so many ending up in tough shape. I'm actually considered private duty nursing and am self-employed. Waaay better for me than being under someone elses' thumb.

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