Specialty for introvert?

[avalanche678]

Anyone who is an introvert and also really sturuggles with social interaction with strong personalities in supervisors and coworkers (I tend to do ok with patients) that has found a niche that worked well for them long term? I'm not looking for advice on changing myself, I know that would be ideal but I've been this way my whole life and in the meantime I want to stay a nurse if possible, while still staying sane and healthy. I am considering education or informatics. Thanks in advance.

[sparticus2008]

I don't think there is a "right niche" for introverts..... Its about finding what works for you, there are so many different kinds of introverts

I find people energy draining, and yet I hate working in areas with limited patient contact (theatre, ICU etc... I like my people awake and talking), even though sometimes it is totally exhausting I love building relationships with patients and sharing their journey

[Ddestiny, BSN, RN]

I don't think there is a "right niche" for introverts..... Its about finding what works for you, there are so many different kinds of introverts

I find people energy draining, and yet I hate working in areas with limited patient contact (theatre, ICU etc... I like my people awake and talking), even though sometimes it is totally exhausting I love building relationships with patients and sharing their journey

I agree with this. I'm an introvert but I love (most) patient interactions. I work in ICU and, though a lot of my patients are sedated, I definitely have a lot more family interactions than when I worked in Post Surgical.

I think it's hard to really nail down a few best specialties for introverts just the same as it would be to find the best specialties for morning people -- it's just too broad of a topic. I think it has more to do with the things that interest you, how much you enjoy connecting with your patients/families and providing education, and what is important to you. If I didn't have meaningful connections and impact on my patients and their families then I wouldn't feel like my job was worthwhile. Not everyone feels the same way and that's okay, but I think that there are other factors (i.e. personality, patience level, tolerance for various behaviors, etc) besides just introversion/extroversion.

[Lennonninja, MSN, APRN, NP]

Maybe try procedural areas eg: cath lab/EP lab/endoscopy. Or nuclear medicine/IR!

I second this, IR is a good place for introverts. Short term interactions with people, and in the 5 months I've been in IR, I've only had 3 grumpy patients/families!

[learning247]

I'm coming out of 3 years on adult acute psych, and it's like, "thank god it wasn't adolescents"- but it was awful. I would get so upset, and my coworkers would just tell me "you've got to learn to tune that out." I was like, "I will never be able to tune out the sound of human screams. NOR SHOULD I" At the end, I was losing control of my own emotions on a regular basis... sometimes at work (

[pmabraham, BSN, RN]

If you are ok with one-to-one and extremely small groups (i.e. small family unit including patient - 2 to 5 people often max), then consider hospice where you do a lot of education and symptom management with patients and families that are often extremely grateful for your care and work.