Any INFJ nurses out there?

Altruistic Muse

Altruistic Muse

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MBTI
INFJ
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It's been a long time since I've been on here, and a lot has changed. Last year I gave up work as a land surveyor to travel around Africa for a few months and think about my future career. I knew it would be a big change, but when I went I thought I wanted to be a Speech and Language Therapist, and when I returned I decided to be a nurse. It's something that was on my mind for a while, but I put it to the back of my head because I knew it was frowned upon by my family. Looking back now, I can't even remember making the decision, just all of a sudden I was applying for carer jobs and postgrad nursing courses. Anyway, the upshot is that I have been working as a carer on a complex care unit for about eight months now, and I am starting my nurse training in September :). I absolutely LOVE my job, despite the pressure, rock-bottom pay, and really long hours. I can't imagine doing anything else, and it consumes me. It feels like it plays to all of my strengths and I can't wait to progress :).

Interestingly, when you look at INFJ careers, nurse doesn't come up all that often. I suppose that's because it's seen as a job that an ISFJ would be good at. I will admit that the practical side of the job takes up all my concentration, and it took a complete brain switch to become competent and efficient. But I think any INFJ can do that too! And our intuition and ability to relate to all different types of people comes is really handy in this career.

Other INFJs (nurses or not),what do you think would make INFJs good nurses? And what do you think will be a stumbling block for most? And I'm just really keen to hear good and bad stories about the profession really :)
 
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Well, I'm not an INFJ, I'm INFP but I'm a nursing student.
 
Altruistic Muse said:
It's been a long time since I've been on here, and a lot has changed. Last year I gave up work as a land surveyor to travel around Africa for a few months and think about my future career. I knew it would be a big change, but when I went I thought I wanted to be a Speech and Language Therapist, and when I returned I decided to be a nurse. It's something that was on my mind for a while, but I put it to the back of my head because I knew it was frowned upon by my family. Looking back now, I can't even remember making the decision, just all of a sudden I was applying for carer jobs and postgrad nursing courses. Anyway, the upshot is that I have been working as a carer on a complex care unit for about eight months now, and I am starting my nurse training in September :). I absolutely LOVE my job, despite the pressure, rock-bottom pay, and really long hours. I can't imagine doing anything else, and it consumes me. It feels like it plays to all of my strengths and I can't wait to progress :).

Interestingly, when you look at INFJ careers, nurse doesn't come up all that often. I suppose that's because it's seen as a job that an ISFJ would be good at. I will admit that the practical side of the job takes up all my concentration, and it took a complete brain switch to become competent and efficient. But I think any INFJ can do that too! And our intuition and ability to relate to all different types of people comes is really handy in this career.

Other INFJs (nurses or not),what do you think would make INFJs good nurses? And what do you think will be a stumbling block for most? And I'm just really keen to hear good and bad stories about the profession really :)
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I remember coming across a woman on Youtube who was an INFJ Nurse. Do you have a Youtube account? Would you be willing to contact her through it and ask about her own experiences? This is the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AwTuWLVO1c. Her username is: Rissa Coles -> https://www.youtube.com/user/loveamerica100?feature=watch
 
Nursing is very people intensive, which I think scares away a lot of INFJs. It is also a tough job in general because of the long hours and difficulty taking care of so many patients.

If you remember Ria, she worked as a nurse. She has not been on in forever, but her old posts about it might be buried somewhere.
 
I work as a Surgical Nurse in the open heart room...and let me tell you, it is nice not having a conversation with the patients....I did that for years when I worked as a paramedic. Though, I do have to have conversations with the Surgeon...luckily for me, in heart surgery there are loooong stretches of silence (well if I do my job properly as an assistant) lol But I do love it....I love the technical aspects of it, I really get into a anal-retentive mode...which I suppose is good for someone assisting a surgeon with heart surgery....lolol.
Do you find yourself as an INFJ flipping into a state of mind that you normally do not have? When I do my job here, I can absolutely flip my concern and feeling for the patient or anything else going on in my life off for the time being......not that it doesn't effect me later, because it most certainly does.
I turn it off....I do the job and I do it very well....then I turn back on.
Does that make sense?
 
I've been a nurse for 7 years now, and many of my INFJ qualities help make me a really successful one. I have the ability to connect and build a rapport with my patients. I believe my intuition is an asset along with my training in discerning developing medical issues - sometimes I've been right when the doctors have been wrong! I am very organized, focused and thorough in delivering care - my J at work!

There are some drawbacks, however. Being charming and extroverted with my patients is exhausting, and I need to recharge as soon as I leave the hospital. My family knows to just leave me alone when I get home, until I let them know I'm ready to interact again. And some care environments do not provide the kind of autonomy that an INFJ needs to really thrive. I switched from working weekdays to working night weekends, where I have much less managerial oversight and far more latitude to work independently. Plus, my coworkers are a bunch of INFJs/INFPs so we get along great but give each other space too.

I think nursing is an excellent career choice for an INFJ, as long as they understand that it often requires a lot of emotional energy in the sense of extroverting. However, nursing also offers many, many different environments and I imagine it would be very easy to find one that "fits" an individual's needs and tastes.
 
realgonegirl said:
I've been a nurse for 7 years now, and many of my INFJ qualities help make me a really successful one. I have the ability to connect and build a rapport with my patients. I believe my intuition is an asset along with my training in discerning developing medical issues - sometimes I've been right when the doctors have been wrong! I am very organized, focused and thorough in delivering care - my J at work!

There are some drawbacks, however. Being charming and extroverted with my patients is exhausting, and I need to recharge as soon as I leave the hospital. My family knows to just leave me alone when I get home, until I let them know I'm ready to interact again. And some care environments do not provide the kind of autonomy that an INFJ needs to really thrive. I switched from working weekdays to working night weekends, where I have much less managerial oversight and far more latitude to work independently. Plus, my coworkers are a bunch of INFJs/INFPs so we get along great but give each other space too.

I think nursing is an excellent career choice for an INFJ, as long as they understand that it often requires a lot of emotional energy in the sense of extroverting. However, nursing also offers many, many different environments and I imagine it would be very easy to find one that "fits" an individual's needs and tastes.
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I really appreciate your comment! Thank you :)
 
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