Personality Typing...

GimiRN · Oct 22, 2011

For those into personality typing, I am an Intj. I've been researching the nursing career for a while now and I am really trying to assess the qualities of a career that I could be happy in. So, I've seen something online about nursing not being a good fit for Intj's. (Yes I understand one should not solely rely on personality typing to dictate their lives)
Any other Intj's. What do you like about nursing and what don't you like. Which types do you think nursing fits best, and which type do you think is not so good for nursing, or won't be satisfied with it?

Your post made me curious, so I did a couple of free MBTI personality tests online, just for the heck of it. My results say that I'm an ISFP. And most of the sites I went to after that, to see if nursing was a good career fit, didn't have it listed. However, I have no question that this is what I was meant to do.

The beauty of nursing is that there are so many different areas to choose from. So there is a good chance that one or several areas could work for you. On the other hand, I am a big believer that nursing (as a whole) is not for everyone. You have to want it from the heart, or you won't be very good at it. You can't just decide to go for it based on whether or not a test says it's a good fit. Like someone said, go with your gut. No job out there will be the PERFECT fit for any personality. So you should base your decision more on your interests and what you have a desire to do. :twocents:

ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2011

ohh myers briggs! hah, my school made our entire class take that test at orientation, and all of our instructors have their types listed on their office doors. its kind of interesting..

im an infp-- the most common type in my class (and reportedly EVERY class theyve done this with in my program) was ESFJ. in fact, i was one of only two "I"'s in my class..

i dont think your type should be a deciding factor of whether or not you should be a nurse, it is a calling as others have stated, and your type just indicates HOW you will go about doing this job.

some difficulties ive run into r/t my type are

I: nursing is a very extroverted job, so i need to switch to an E when at clinical (or work, im a PCA). It can be very exhausting for a strong introvert to do this for 8 hours+.

N: I think my intuitiveness is actually very helpful. I seem to pick up on things others dont right away. im especially good at figuring out what pts are trying to say when the person they are talking to inst really understanding it the way they are saying it.

F: sometimes i FEEL too much. i take everything personally, i cry easily. i cry for myself, i cry for the situation some patients are in.. im a big cry baby. but i dont do it in plain sight-- lol.

P: I'm very, very, very disorganized, and it is very hard for me to get places on time. Of course I adjust myself accordingly for nursing school, but it definitely is not second nature to me..

sooo, I think your N (intuition) and your J (judgement) will be really beneficial to you in nursing, even your T (thinking), but dont forget to bring out your inner F (feeling) when needed.

Your I (introversion) is something you need to work really hard at masking while on the floor and try to bring out the extroverted side of yourself.. i think thats the hardest part for me.

----

sorry ive taken 4 psych classes and have a deep interest in the whole myers briggs thing. haha. ive typed all of my friends before they take the test and have been right like 90% of the time.

emmanewgrad · Oct 22, 2011

I don't believe in personality typing, I had that same questions in high school. It took me way off!!! I'm shy and antisocial, I can't carry a face to face conve rsation without knowing you for a long time; or so I thought. Life took me into science and math, I hit inside my room and books for a while. I enjoy learning. Anywho, phlebotomist was the carrier of choice for a couple of years, no conversation needed. Draw blood , centrifuge it, send outs, drugtest ...and the list went on. I wanted more and decided to back to school; criminal justice degree was completed. This was not enough for me, it didn't satisfy my passion for the unknown need inside me. Finally, continued taking more classes for the heck of it and without knowing :) landed the prerequisite for nursing :) I was 30 years old with my fourth pregnancy :) and so I continued taking my nursing classes until obvious eventful graduation, took the. nclex once. Here I am, did medsurg for four months , but wanted something of faster turnaround...got into ed and have not looked back. Being part of the nursing world and the passionist RNs to make a difference in someone's life is so spiritually fulfilling :) I found my Passion in life besides being a mother of four beautiful kids. I know you will find yours as u seem to be curious enough to be searching for it and not awaiting for it to magically come to you.

AnonRNC · Oct 22, 2011

I can attest that INTJs can be very happy nurses. I've been a nurse for 12 years and just started an RN-to-BSN program. Our first assignment was to do personality typing. In our cohort of 37 students, 7 were INTJ's. Of the ones I know, one is a critical care nurse, one does home care but wants to do L&D, another is a psych nurse.

The beauty of nursing is that you can bring your strengths to any practice area.

tyloo · Oct 22, 2011

INTJ here. Introversion is not a problem. I talk to family or patients about health and nursing aspects in my job. I am fine with conversing related to nursing but personal conversations- yikes! My stomach goes into knots and I am rather uncomfortable. I am not a sensitive person- it does not make me insensitive however I do have empathy and that is what you need in nursing is a whole lot of empathy. I want organization and see the greater picture so I am always able to prioritize. On the other side of the token though I have high expectations which is not good because often I feel disappointed at the end of the work day not meeting my expectations. The patients deserve so much more care than I am able to give. According to the INTJ category I should be a scientist, engineer, or business. I could never do this because I actually do enjoy being around people at work. Now when my shift ends I would rather stay away from crowds and hang out at my house. Hope this helps!!

Purple93 · Oct 22, 2011

ohh myers briggs! hah, my school made our entire class take that test at orientation, and all of our instructors have their types listed on their office doors. its kind of interesting..
im an infp-- the most common type in my class (and reportedly EVERY class theyve done this with in my program) was ESFJ. in fact, i was one of only two "I"'s in my class..
i dont think your type should be a deciding factor of whether or not you should be a nurse, it is a calling as others have stated, and your type just indicates HOW you will go about doing this job.
some difficulties ive run into r/t my type are
I: nursing is a very extroverted job, so i need to switch to an E when at clinical (or work, im a PCA). It can be very exhausting for a strong introvert to do this for 8 hours+.
N: I think my intuitiveness is actually very helpful. I seem to pick up on things others dont right away. im especially good at figuring out what pts are trying to say when the person they are talking to inst really understanding it the way they are saying it.
F: sometimes i FEEL too much. i take everything personally, i cry easily. i cry for myself, i cry for the situation some patients are in.. im a big cry baby. but i dont do it in plain sight-- lol.
P: I'm very, very, very disorganized, and it is very hard for me to get places on time. Of course I adjust myself accordingly for nursing school, but it definitely is not second nature to me..
sooo, I think your N (intuition) and your J (judgement) will be really beneficial to you in nursing, even your T (thinking), but dont forget to bring out your inner F (feeling) when needed.
Your I (introversion) is something you need to work really hard at masking while on the floor and try to bring out the extroverted side of yourself.. i think thats the hardest part for me.
----
sorry ive taken 4 psych classes and have a deep interest in the whole myers briggs thing. haha. ive typed all of my friends before they take the test and have been right like 90% of the time.

Thanks this was very helpful. I think this is right on because i am super introverted and known as being sort of insensitive. Not that I am, but its just hard to me to actively show compassion or something like that i dont know. But the part of nursing that i was most concerned with is that its seems like more of an extroverted type of career which you said. I would have to work on that.

diva rn, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2011

To each his own but I think it's absurd to base your entire life's career on a test...I have taken the test...but my nursing career and it's longevity and success have absolutely NOTHING to do with the results of the test....

If you genuinely wish to become a nurse and have the drive and interest...then do so....do not base it on the results of a pseudopsychological personality test.

Purple93 · Oct 22, 2011

Right, as i have stated, "(Yes I understand one should not solely rely on personality typing to dictate their lives)" Im just simply curious and want a perspective from other Intj's

ashleyisawesome, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2011

btw there is a whole forum deticated to this very thing:

http://personalitycafe.com/forum/

and ive found nurses on there! if you are still interested in learning more, im sure you can find some on there and talk with them about their strengths and weaknesses in their jobs r/t to their type.

EMT-newbie · Oct 22, 2011

Hello INTJ. Now that House MD has outed us, people you work with will have a familiar reference and it won't take them long to get used to you :jester:

I went through the same process of analysis when deciding on nursing as a midlife career change, you'll do great if you play to your strengths.

StrwbryblndRN · Oct 22, 2011

I am INTJ also. Obviously so, from my point of view. Nursing has been the one of few careers I wanted. (vet or md was the others). I hate crowds and do not like disorganization. Best fit for me was to work overnight. Helps too that I am a night owl. I could probably fit into days but would be more anxious knowing my personality.

Regardless of my personality type I would have still gone into nursing. I do not regret it one second.

Purple93 · Oct 22, 2011

I am INTJ also. Obviously so, from my point of view. Nursing has been the one of few careers I wanted. (vet or md was the others). I hate crowds and do not like disorganization. Best fit for me was to work overnight. Helps too that I am a night owl. I could probably fit into days but would be more anxious knowing my personality.
Regardless of my personality type I would have still gone into nursing. I do not regret it one second.

Ha! i said i think i would prefer night shift too. :)