INFPs where are you working in nursing?

pennyaline · Feb 21, 2010

I didn't know that anyone still used the Meyers-Briggs personality models.

Meyers-Briggs says you're introspective, so go ahead and be so! What are you like? What do you want? What do you think/feel/believe would be a good fit for you (although I realize that the iNtuitive part of you gets in the way of that ) ?

loriangel14, RN · Feb 21, 2010

I am an INFP nurse and I work on a Complex Continuing Care Unit. I too would feel drained if I worked on one of the high stress units you mentioned. I enjoy the slower pace of my unit and the time to give my full attention to my patients. I did home care as a personal support worker before I was a nurse and I plan on retruning to community care in the future. Best of luck.

ijuanabhappy, ASN, RN · Feb 21, 2010

At a crossroads professionally. I wonder what is the best fit in nursing for my personality type INFP. Does anyone else find that the busier units Telemetry, Critical Care, and the ER just drain you and prefer dealing with smaller groups of people or one on one? I find myself thinking about private duty nursing or home health more and more. The autonomy of these positions sounds so appealing! Any suggestions from fellow INFPs on what type of nursing you have found rewarding and beneficial for our unique personality type would be extremely helpful! Thank you in advance!

YES! I am an INFP and in my last semester of nursing school and I know EXACTLY how you feel! I almost felt like quitting nursing school yesterday because of clinical. I hated it. I was a nervous wreck. I do a lot better with smaller groups also and know that I could never work on one of those busy medical floors. I just can't. I'm not sure either what my niche is, but I hope I find it too.. My GPA is high but clinicals stress me out to the point where I question if this is even the right field for me...

Best of luck to you!!

Rhone · Feb 21, 2010

I'm an INFP, but I'm a new nurse so I can't really compare different areas of nursing based on anything other than experience from clinicals and my own hypothesizing about what I might or might not enjoy.

I can say, though, that I'm very much enjoying the nursing job I just started at a psychiatric hospital. The other nurses and mental health workers on my unit have been very positive and welcoming, and in terms of personality I feel like a better fit there than I did on the LTC and med/surg units in clinicals. And as far as my interactions with the patients, I feel more satisfied when I can work with them on an emotional and mental level rather than dealing with primarily physical problems.

If you'd prefer acute care but like working with patients one on one, what about working in a PACU? I had the opportunity to shadow a nurse in a PACU during clinicals and I felt very much like that was something I could enjoy doing--you get to focus all of your attention on one patient instead of splitting your attention between 5 or 6.

I didn't know that anyone still used the Meyers-Briggs personality models.

It doesn't get much respect from modern Psychology (which tends to shun stuff associated with Carl Jung), but I think it gets some use in things like career counseling.

pennyaline · Feb 21, 2010

If you'd prefer acute care but like working with patients one on one, what about working in a PACU? I had the opportunity to shadow a nurse in a PACU during clinicals and I felt very much like that was something I could enjoy doing--you get to focus all of your attention on one patient instead of splitting your attention between 5 or 6.

That is not correct. PACU is a high emotion, high stress intensive care setting in which nurses may have three or four recovering patients to care for depending on how big the OR department is, how heavy the OR schedule is, if rooms are moving faster or more slowly than anticipated, adverse anesthesia reactions, hemorrhage or other emergent complications, etc. PACU nurses function under the same rate of turnover emphasis as every other nurse in the building, and that further complicates matters.

It doesn't get much respect from modern Psychology (which tends to shun stuff associated with Carl Jung), but I think it gets some use in things like career counseling.

Standardized personality typing doesn't get any respect from modern Psychology, period. I know that Meyers-Briggs got heavy use in career counseling, and HR departments and managers were using it as part of job screening and management training for a while. I'm surprised it still exists anywhere, however, given how particularly hokey it is.

Rhone · Feb 21, 2010

That is not correct. PACU is a high emotion, high stress intensive care setting in which nurses may have three or four recovering patients to care for depending on how big the OR department is, how heavy the OR schedule is, if rooms are moving faster or more slowly than anticipated, adverse anesthesia reactions, hemorrhage or other emergent complications, etc. PACU nurses function under the same rate of turnover emphasis as every other nurse in the building, and that further complicates matters.

Well, thanks for the correction. In the PACU I observed, the nurses only had one patient at a time. And I wasn't trying to suggest that PACU is easy. Some people are good at focusing intensely on one thing at a time and have trouble splitting their attention, and some people are better at splitting their attention. From the PACU I saw, it seemed ideal for people who fall into the former category.

Cathy T. RN · Feb 22, 2010

I know hospital and home nursing pays better, but I get real rewards from public health nursing. You do get automony with public health, but also the joy of helping someone really in need, teaching young women about family planning.

N51308 · Feb 22, 2010

I am an INFP nurse and I work on a Complex Continuing Care Unit. I too would feel drained if I worked on one of the high stress units you mentioned. I enjoy the slower pace of my unit and the time to give my full attention to my patients. I did home care as a personal support worker before I was a nurse and I plan on retruning to community care in the future. Best of luck.

Thank you that was helpful. I appreciate your opinion.

N51308 · Feb 22, 2010

Pennyaline,

While I appreciate that you are trying to be helpful. I purposely titled this thread to INFPs ONLY. If you are not an INFP there really is no need for you to comment or give your opinion. FYI: All the psychology classes I have taken in the last 2 years have at one time or another utilized Meyer Briggs testing. If you find this type of testing "hokey" again Id rather you refrain from commenting. Thanks but your opinion is just that and is not helpful.

N51308 · Feb 22, 2010

Cathy T. RN

Yes, more and more I feel this may be my calling. Thanks for your advice. I appreciate it!

N51308 · Feb 22, 2010

Well, thanks for the correction. In the PACU I observed, the nurses only had one patient at a time. And I wasn't trying to suggest that PACU is easy. Some people are good at focusing intensely on one thing at a time and have trouble splitting their attention, and some people are better at splitting their attention. From the PACU I saw, it seemed ideal for people who fall into the former category.

Rhone,

Welcome to nursing! Glad it seems like you found your niche! Yes, it does depend on where you are working as far as the ratio goes for PACU. The PACU you described sounds like a similar unit back at my old hospital whereas another hospital I worked had a ratio similar to the one Pennyaline mentioned. I think the stress of the unit can be managed based on who your working with but yes, I have heard it is a stressful unit. Some units work better together than others. I considered the PACU at one hospital and basically decided against it because of the nurses being so catty towards one another when I shadowed. But have not ruled it out completely. Thanks for the helpful advice!