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.

I also wanted to add, after reading some of the other responses, that, as an INFP or an INFJ, I have chosen to do psych nursing because that's where my primary interest lies and that's the area I enjoy most, but I never had any difficulty functioning in a med-surg setting. I don't believe that personality type determines your destiny (unless you choose to let it) :) -- I think that most people who are interested in and motivated (enough) to be successful in any particular area of nursing can do so, regardless of a particular MB type. Humans are incredibly adaptable.

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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

INFP and INFJ are abbreviations for two of 16 personality types associated with the Myers-Briggs personality profile.

More info on this at http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/.

FYI--not to be confused with personality disorders!

Just saw that others have answered this question. Would delete but don't know how.

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Specializes in Neuro/Med-Surg.

I am an INFP and have found a happy home on an acute rehab floor. The pace is a bit slower, you get to know your patients, my coworkers (on my rehab floor anyway) are patient and kind, our doctors are awesome. Lots of education and teaching. Lots of wound care, diabetes teaching, straight cathing/bowel programs. Some trachs and ostomy. I think it is a good fit for this personality type.

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I'm an INFP nursing student, and am thinking about Oncology, or palliative care. I would absolutely love to work in pet therapy, but here in Italy it's still very much in its infancy.

I am intrigued by the OR, but am not at all a competitive person, and think it would be way too stressful for me, lol :D

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Specializes in geriatrics.

Thanks for this thread! I'm not sure what my personality type would be, but I do know what kinds of environments I enjoy (LTC, psych, palliative, OR). I am like many of you in that I prefer a quieter environment. Nursing is my second career, and I no longer feel the need to be running around all day, or stressed to the max. I just don't want to. I've worked acute and med surg also as a student, and while this was valuable experience, I realized that I really don't enjoy it. Mainly, because all those units are always so short staffed. Who needs that?

It's refreshing to see that others feel the same way.

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Specializes in Tele, Cardiac Post Op, ER.
I also wanted to add, after reading some of the other responses, that, as an INFP or an INFJ, I have chosen to do psych nursing because that's where my primary interest lies and that's the area I enjoy most, but I never had any difficulty functioning in a med-surg setting. I don't believe that personality type determines your destiny (unless you choose to let it) :) -- I think that most people who are interested in and motivated (enough) to be successful in any particular area of nursing can do so, regardless of a particular MB type. Humans are incredibly adaptable.

I agree humans are adaptable. Thats why I challenged myself to go into an ER position. It is my hope that I will grow as a clinician, as this is outside my comfort level. But it is comforting to know that we have each other for support because there are very few INFJ's if any where i work. :) :heartbeat Good luck to you all!

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I'm an INFP/J and work in a peds emergency department. I wanted to do ED nursing since before I started school. I like to see the whole picture with a diagram and step-by-step process too before jumping in, but I also like to push myself and exist just outside my comfort zone so the need to learn as I go in the middle of everything is a good challenge for me.

Maybe the issue with the NICU was that you were handling 4 patients from day one? That sounds like a failure of orientation rather than it necessarily being a bad fit for you.

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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. :)

I feel like I wrote this! lol I register as an ISFP but I totally relate to INFP. My first nursing job started a few weeks ago and I was thrown in on the first day, not allowed to see the picture, but just asked to complete tasks. It felt totally unsafe to me. My job is at an LTC facility and I have 33 patients under my care. On my 2nd day of training, my supervisor told me I was moving "too slow". I was moving as quickly as possible and trying to make sure I didn't make any med errors! I did end up catching a few med errors from the pharmacy on my 2nd day. And even then my supervisor didn't seem to be happy because this meant calling the pharmacy to correct it and possibly writing up other employees for the med errors. =/ Yea... can't win on this job.

I love the geriatric patients we care for and it was sad to have to rush in with their meds and turn around leave because I needed to "catch up." I think night shift would be a better fit for me. Like another poster said, I hate small talking, especially when I'm at work. I just want to provide good patient care and go home! Day shift at my job is filled with random people who just wanna "talk". I also feel like inpatient psych may be a better fit for me. I like the creativity of helping the patients cope and also enjoy counseling. I'm not sure how to get into psych though. Is experience usually needed? I'll be interviewing for 2 positions soon: an observation unit and a medcardiology floor. Not sure how these will go with our personality but I honestly need the money right now!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Neuro, Home Health.

I am also an INFP. I have been a nurse for 3 years, and feel like I still don't know where I belong. The hardest part is having to be assertive and delegate to CNA's in the hospital setting where I currently work. It is in Med-Surg / PCU. Very fast paced, and no room for emotions. I am constantly taken advantage of. I just feel like another number, not a person. I am hoping that Pediatrics will be my "niche," or else I'm going back to Home Health.

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

"I just feel like another number, not a person."

You just described hospital nursing to a 'T' - at least my experience. I couldn't stand the completely depersonalized nature of it, like I couldn't ever just speak as a friend to a patient without getting in trouble for doing something I didn't have time to do. Really? When did nursing become this robotic, nameless, faceless task that has lost all sense of the personal and caring nature it once had? I just don't see that anymore, and it is a shame. It's not nurses' fault, either, it is the way hospital care has evolved. It's awful.

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Specializes in Anesthesia, ICU, PCU.

I'm glad to see other MBTI-conscious people out there. I also wish I knew about MBTI before I decided on being a nurse, cuz as an ISTJ it is not turning out to be a satisfying choice. I think it comes down to the E/I category. Everyone says that introverts are very capable of being good nurses and there have been a few articles on AN about the topic, but I'm not sure that really factors in to your quality as a nurse as much as your own tolerance/satisfaction of being around so many different people on a daily basis. The other three qualities are what judge your abilities as a nurse IMO. Being an introvert who is essentially forced to be bubbly by nature of an urban teaching facility is draining and miserable, but being an STJ makes me a decent nurse. If extraversion is being outgoing and talkative, and introversion is being reserved and solitary, then I would say it's impossible for an introvert to be happy as a bedside nurse.

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Specializes in nurseline,med surg, PD.

I'm an INTJ but my introversion is proobably my strongest trait. I do well with private duty, because there are limited people thst I have to intereact with.I can focus on one patient.

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