DiversityNursing Blog

Glenn Llopis

www.huffingtonpost.com

Like many healthcare providers in the Los Angeles area, and well beyond to healthcare organizations throughout the United States, City of Hope has recognized the growing need for clinical professionals and staff that more closely mirror the patients it serves in its catchment area. And with a local population that is nearly half Hispanic, that means recruiting more Hispanics into the industry, as well as providing much needed career development opportunities. But whereas most in the industry are just beginning to acknowledge the need, City of Hope has taken the lead to recruit more Hispanics into the industry and also has started to build a Hispanic talent pipeline for the immediate and not so distant future.

According to Ann Miller, senior director of talent acquisition and workforce development, "Even when people in the industry recognize the need for more Hispanics, or just a more diverse workforce, it can feel overwhelming trying to figure out what actions to take and how to build a strategy around it. But once you see the data laid out in front of you, and see that 46 percent of your primary service area is Hispanic, you realize it would be optimal to figure out how to recruit a workforce that looks more like the population you are serving. Beyond that, it's also important to employ a bilingual staff that can speak the language and understand the culture to best meet the needs of the community being served."

Once you recognize the need, it's time to start asking the questions that will help you fill the gaps:

• How do you find and appeal to the types of people you need to start building relationships with? Who are the influencers and the connectors?
• How do you get your recruitment team looking toward the future and building a pipeline, when limited resources are focused on more immediate needs?
• How do you get buy-in from senior management and enlist other departments throughout the organization?
• How do you partner with others in the industry who recognize the need but have yet to become active in the pursuit of common goals? 

Here's how City of Hope has started to answer these questions as it takes the lead in addressing these timely industry issues. Stephanie Neuvirth, Chief Human Resources and Diversity Officer, has said that it's not easy to build a diverse healthcare or biomedical pipeline of talent, even when you understand the supply and demand of your primary service area and the business case becomes clearer. "Few in the industry are taking the helicopter perspective that is needed to really see the linkage between the different variables that must be factored in to solve the problem," she says. 

Even in healthcare, it's not simple, and it takes time to develop the paths, the relationships and the pipeline to cause real and sustainable change. It takes linking a workforce talent strategy to the broader mission and strategic goals of the organization. And it takes collaboration with the community, schools, government, parents and everyone who touches the pipeline to help achieve the necessary and vital missing pieces of the puzzle.

Talent Acquisition and Workforce Development

What you first have to realize is that there is an immediate but also a long-term gap to fill, which represent two sides of the same coin: talent acquisition and workforce development. We know we can best serve our community by mirroring the community that we serve, and that doesn't stop with the talent that we attract today; it's an imperative that depends on the talent pipeline that we build for the future.

City of Hope's approach has been to start fast and strong with some immediate steps that can then be built upon and cascaded out into a longer term strategy for the future. The good news is that if your goal is to look like the community you serve, you don't have to look far for the talent you need. It's right in your own backyard. But there's still a lot of work to be done in terms of educating people about potential careers in healthcare -- clinical and otherwise -- developing the workforce skills and knowledge that they will need, and planting the seeds in the next generation. 

It's particularly disheartening to hear about the young people graduating from high school and college who can't get jobs, when there are growing shortages in the healthcare industry - the nation's third largest industry, and projected to be its second largest in just seven years. According to a recent report by The Economist, U.S. businesses are going to depend heavily on Latinos - the country's fastest-growing and what it calls "irreversible" population -- to fill the gaps not just in healthcare but across all industries. 

If you look just at nursing, the single largest profession in California, you can see how far we have to go. Only 7 percent of the 300,000 nurses in the state are Hispanic. The clinical gaps extend to doctors, just 6 percent Latino; pharmacists, less than 6 percent; and the list goes on and on.

Teresa McCormac, nurse recruiter, is one of the people at City of Hope working to build the Hispanic talent pipeline, beginning with the need for Spanish speaking nurses. She is responsible for elevating City of Hope's presence in the community through word of mouth referrals and by getting active in broader outreach online, in publications and at local, college and national events, such as the National Association of Hispanic Nurses (NAHN) annual conference taking place in Anaheim, CA this July.

"It's important to have a passionate champion for the candidates, as well as our hiring managers and the organization. My role is to get the word out into the community about City of Hope and connect with the talent we need to fill our current and future openings," she says.

This requires a multi-prong approach to recruitment efforts, where you must act to attract candidates not only for current needs, but down the road five-ten years, and even further into the future. 

This begs the question: how do you get more Hispanics and other diverse students interested in the sciences and considering careers in healthcare? 

Traditionally, recruiters focus on those currently working in healthcare to fill immediate gaps, as well as those working in other industries with transferable skills, who might be interested in working in healthcare in a non-clinical capacity, such as IT or marketing. They also look at colleges with nursing and other clinical programs -- particularly those with high concentrations of Hispanics and other diverse students -- where they can conduct outreach efforts, build partnerships and establish a presence. 

But building a talent pipeline requires that you reach students well before the college years, when they are still in high school, and even earlier as middle and grade-schoolers. It takes time to get the message out there and have it stick, so the bigger and bolder you can go, the better. That was City of Hope's thinking behind the launch of its Diversity Health Care Career Expo in September 2014, which made quite an impact with the community and opened eyes to the variety of career opportunities within healthcare. It also opened City of Hope's eyes to the level of interest from the community when 1500 people showed up for this first of its kind event. 

What started as an idea for a diversity career fair to fill immediate positions quickly grew to encompass a workforce development component to include students, parents, as well as working professionals interested in transitioning into healthcare. The Career Expo brought a level of awareness never seen before in the community -- and did so very quickly. For example, it allowed healthcare professionals to connect the dots between math and science classes students were taking and how this learning applied in the real world of healthcare -- and the different careers these types of classes are helping to prepare them for if they stick with them. It also allowed parents to understand how to help their children prepare for jobs that are available and will continue to be available in the future. They also gained insights into how growing up with smartphones and other electronic devices has given their children a distinct advantage that previous generations didn't have -- enabling them to leverage their everyday use of technology into transferable skills that could lead towards a career in Information Technology, which offers a very promising career path within the healthcare and biomedicine industries. 

Catching students early on to spark their interest and expose them to healthcare careers and professionals who can encourage and support them along the way requires that you go out into the community as well. Toward that end, City of Hope has partnered with Duarte Unified School District and Citrus College on a program called TEACH (Train, Educate and Accelerate Careers in Healthcare).

According to Tamara Robertson, senior manager of recruitment, the TEACH partnership provides students with the opportunity to gain college credit while still in high school by taking college-level classes at no cost. This puts them on the fast track to higher education and career readiness by giving them essential skills and capabilities to enter the workforce soon after graduating high school, or to continue their education with up to one year of college coursework already completed. Eighteen students were accepted into the program in its first year.

Each partner plays a valuable role in the program. City of Hope provides students with opportunities to gain first-hand exposure to healthcare IT by giving overviews of the various areas within IT, providing summer internships, and offering mentoring and development interactions. Duarte High School is the conduit for the program by selecting the students for the program and facilitating the learning, and Citrus College develops the curriculum that enables students to earn college credits and IT certifications. It's ideal for students who may not have the means to continue on to college, but can work for an organization like City of Hope that offers opportunities to start their IT career as a Helpdesk or Technology Specialist. In addition, they can take advantage of tuition reimbursement should they choose to further their education and development.

In today's world, social media must be in the recruitment mix, especially if you want to engage with Hispanics who index higher on time spent on social media than the general population and any other group. Statistically, 80 percent of Hispanics utilize social media compared to 75 percent of African Americans and 70 percent of non-Hispanic whites. It's also a great way to reach not just active candidates in search of a new position, but passive ones employed elsewhere whose interest may be peaked when a more interesting opportunity presents itself. 

This is where Aggie Cooke, branding and digital specialist, comes in -- leveraging social media as a core component of City of Hope's outreach efforts to potential candidates. She takes a three-legged approach to the use of social media for recruitment:

1.  Branding - offering relevant content that portrays the culture and appeals to a candidate's values and broader career aspirations;

2.  Targeting - identifying potential candidates who have skills and experiences that the organization needs today and in the future; and

3.  Engaging - creating a relationship by inviting candidates to dialog with City of Hope.

You can reach more people through social media -- even if they're not active job seekers -- by posting information that is relevant to their field and interests. For example, oncology nurses will be interested in what you have to say about the latest developments in the world of oncology. 

Though it can seem overwhelming with so many messages out there competing for people's attention, you can break through with content that is authentic, timely and purposeful. You can also make an impact by tailoring your content to the medium you are using. For example, a story about a scientific breakthrough at City of Hope would play well on LinkedIn, while pictures of happy employees taking a Zumba class together would engage potential candidates on Instagram. Social media also enables you to expand the reach and prolong the life of live events. For example, attendees of the Career Expo last year engaged online with live tweets and Instagram pictures from the event and later provided comments and feedback about their experience that will be instrumental in planning this year's event.

Going forward, successful programs and events, like TEACH and the Diversity Health Care Career Expo, will be expanded upon, as City of Hope continues to lead the way in talent acquisition, workforce development and creating a talent pipeline for Hispanics and the future of healthcare.

Written by David McNamee

Male registered nurses are earning more than female registered nurses across settings, specialties and positions, and this pay gap has not narrowed over time, says a new analysis of salary trends published in JAMA.

Although the salary gap between men and women has narrowed in many occupations since the introduction of the Equal Pay Act 50 years ago, say the study authors, pay inequality persists in medicine and nursing.

Previous studies have found that male registered nurses (RNs) have higher salaries than female registered RNs. In their new study, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, sought to investigate what employment factors could explain these salary differences using recent data.

The researchers analyzed nationally representative data from the last six quadrennial National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses studies (1988-2008; including 87,903 RNs) and data from the American Community Survey (2001-13; including 205,825 RNs). In both studies, the proportion of men in the sample was 7%.

During every year, both of the studies demonstrated that salaries for male RNs were higher than the salaries of female RNs. What is more, the researchers found no significant changes in this pay gap - which averaged as an overall adjusted earnings difference of $5,148 - over the study period.

In ambulatory care the salary gap was $7,678 and in hospital settings it was $3,873. The smallest pay gap was found in chronic care ($3,792) and the largest was in cardiology ($6,034). The only specialty in which no significant pay gap between men and women RNs was detected was orthopedics. The salary difference was also found to extend across the range of positions, including roles such as middle management and nurse anesthetists.

Employers and physicians 'need to examine pay structures'

"The roles of RNs are expanding with implementation of the Affordable Care Act and emphasis on team-based care delivery," the authors write. 

They conclude:

"A salary gap by gender is especially important in nursing because this profession is the largest in health care and is predominantly female, affecting approximately 2.5 million women. These results may motivate nurse employers, including physicians, to examine their pay structures and act to eliminate inequities."

The results of a 2010 survey looking at the impact of the economic crisis on nursing salaries published in Nursing Management found that a nurse leader's average salary fell by $4,000 between 2007 and 2010. In the same survey, almost 60% of nurse leaders felt that they were not receiving appropriate compensation for their level of organizational responsibility.

However, that survey found no evidence that workload for nurse leaders had increased. The respondents reported that they were still working the same number of hours per week as they had traditionally and were not responsible for more staff members than before the economic crisis.

"If you thought nursing was immune to the downturn, think again. The poor economy is keeping us working longer than we'd anticipated," said Nursing Management editor-in-chief Richard Hader, "and in addition to wage cuts, organizations are freezing or eliminating retirement benefits, further negatively impacting employee morale."

Source: www.medicalnewstoday.com

By Bridgid Joseph

Changing jobs can be a stressful process for some because of the dreaded interview process. But there are a few pretty simple tips that can help put you, and your interviewer, at ease to make for a much better experience, and lead you closer to that new job you’ve been wanting! Stop letting the interview process paralyze your career.

For most people, the worst part of thinking about changing positions, or getting a new job, is the interview process. Maybe you are someone who gets nervous and sweats, shakes, or just can’t focus on the questions being asked, which makes the interviewing process torturous for you, something you dread, and guess what?

If you feel awkward and uncomfortable, so does the person interviewing you. As someone who has moved around quite a bit, interviewed for numerous jobs, and scored an offer each time (not to toot my own horn), I have learned some tricks to interview well, that are applicable to most people. And as someone who now interviews applicants, I have a whole new perspective of what and interviewer “sees” during an interview; there are some small Do’s and Don’ts that can make you appear more poised and ready than you may feel!

DO Dress the Part:

Even though you may be coming in for an interview for your first job as a nurse, Medical Assistant (MA), Patient Care Technician (PCT), etc. you want to dress as if you are coming in for a job as a Director or the Chief Nursing Officer. I am not telling you to spend a ton of money on some fancy suit, but you want to look nicely put together with clothes that fit you well and look nice.

I was walking from my car to an interview and I was wearing these great fitted pants that I found on sale at one of my favorite stores and couldn't believe they were 60% off, they looked great, fit great, and with a top that I already owned, and a pair of smart black shoes, I felt (and looked) like a million bucks. Until I tripped a little, looked down, and realized the hem gave away on one of my pant legs (probably why such an amazing pair of pants were on such a super sale in my size), so I acted quickly, hobbled quickly to my car, did a little “runway” hem with some tape that I had in my car (i.e. I taped up the hem inside of my pants), and went back on my way. 

Even though it was a bit of smoke and mirrors show, no one knew that my pants were taped together, and I even got complimented on how great my outfit looked. You don’t need to spend a lot, to look like a lot, but looking neat in nicely fitting clothes, shows that you are putting in the effort to put your best foot forward and show yourself in the best light. 

DON’T Dress for a Night Out or a Day of Work:

If you are applying for a clinical job, yes it is awesome that we get to wear scrubs to work everyday, and it does make those of us that work clinically, at a deficit for “business” attire in our wardrobes, but it doesn't make it acceptable for us to wear scrubs to an interview. You also want to make sure that you aren't wearing something that you would choose to wear out to a bar/nightclub with your friends. 

I have seen quite a few outfits in my time that make me think twice about the applicants common sense. Don’t make the interviewer question your common sense; that means you have set yourself up to have to prove your intelligence and critical thinking skills, despite what your resume might say!

(I realize I put this in twice, but I can’t tell you how many times I have seen people really inappropriately dressed for interviews!!)

DO Have Good Posture: 

Did you know that sitting straight up and keeping your shoulders back make you appear smarter, attentive, and more of a leader?

Well, it does. I may be interviewing you for a position in an entry level, but I am more apt to hire someone that shows me they can be a leader within their position and will work hard and role model their leadership skills. And if they stay in their position, they will hopefully move up the ranks quickly.

DON’T Oversell Yourself: 

A big mistake interviewees make is overselling their skills. If you don’t have a certain skill set for a job you are interviewing for, that’s OK. Not everyone is an expert in their field when they first start, right? 

We all start somewhere. So when you are asked, for example, “How comfortable are you taking care of a patient on with an intraaortic balloon pump?” and you think “A WHAT?!?!?”

Don’t sweat it, and give an honest response such as, “I haven’t had the experience of taking care of such a patient, but I have extensive other skills, such as [insert skills here] that I learned quickly, and I would love the opportunity to learn more about those patients and their specific needs. Is this a common patient type on your unit?” 

You do two things with that answer...

You let me look back at your resume to review your skills, and you also show that you are interested in this experience and willing to learn. I may be looking for a more experienced nurse, but I will definitely consider you and your willingness to learn as a huge asset; I would rather hire someone motivated to learn and improve than someone who is stagnant in their learning process and no longer feels excited about their role. 

DO Be Honest on Your Resume: 

Sometimes it is glaringly obvious when people tell mistruths on their resumes, and sometimes it isn't, but it usually becomes obvious during an interview. I have had perspectives that added some skills into their resume that they don’t have, and through standard interview questions, it got quite awkward as I realized they did not have the skills they boasted about. (see don’t oversell yourself!)

DO Be Positive: 

As with all experiences in life, if you walk in feeling positive, confident, with a big smile on your face, and an open mind, you can win over almost anyone! There is no need to be nervous as the worst thing that can happen is that the job isn't a match; so think positively and imagine that you already have the job, and your interview will be a great experience. 

If you want a change in your career/life, send out those resumes and get your interview smile on and go get that new job! 

Source: http://allnurses.com

By Rebecca Riffkin

In 2014, Americans say nurses have the highest honesty and ethical standards. Members of Congress and car salespeople were given the worst ratings among the 11 professions included in this year's poll. Eighty percent of Americans say nurses have "very high" or "high" standards of honesty and ethics, compared with a 7% rating for members of Congress and 8% for car salespeople.

Americans have been asked to rate the honesty and ethics of various professions annually since 1990, and periodically since 1976. Nurses have topped the list each year since they were first included in 1999, with the exception of 2001 when firefighters were included in response to their work during and after the 9/11 attacks. Since 2005, at least 80% of Americans have said nurses have high ethics and honesty. Two other medical professions -- medical doctors and pharmacists -- tie this year for second place at 65%, with police officers and clergy approaching 50%.

Historically, honesty and ethics ratings for members of Congress have generally not been positive, with the highest rating reaching 25% in 2001. Since 2009, Congress has ranked at or near the bottom of the list, usually tied with other poorly viewed professions like car salespeople and -- when they have been included -- lobbyists, telemarketers, HMO managers, stockbrokers and advertising practitioners.

Although members of Congress and car salespeople have similar percentages rating their honesty and ethics as "very high" or "high," members of Congress are much more likely to receive "low" or "very low" ratings (61%), compared with 45% for car salespeople. Last year, 66% of Americans rated Congress' honesty and ethics "low" or "very low," the worst Gallup has measured for any profession historically.

Other relatively poorly rated professions, including advertising practitioners, lawyers, business executives and bankers are more likely to receive "average" than "low" honesty and ethical ratings. So while several of these professions rank about as low as members of Congress in terms of having high ethics, they are less likely than members of Congress to be viewed as having low ethics.

No Professions Improved in Ratings of High Honesty, Ethics Since 2013

Since 2013, all professions either dropped or stayed the same in the percentage of Americans who said they have high honesty and ethics. The only profession to show a small increase was lawyers, and this rise was small (one percentage point) and within the margin of error. The largest drops were among police officers, pharmacists and business executives. But medical doctors, bankers and advertising practitioners also saw drops.

Honesty and ethics ratings of police dropped six percentage points since last year, driven down by many fewer nonwhite Americans saying the police have high honesty and ethical standards. The clergy's 47% rating last year marked the first year that less than 50% of Americans said the clergy had high ethical and honesty standards -- and the current 46% rating is, by one percentage point, the lowest Gallup has measured for that profession to date.

Bottom Line

Americans continue to rate those in medical professions as having higher honesty and ethical standards than those in most other professions. Nurses have consistently been the top-rated profession -- although doctors and pharmacists also receive high ratings, despite the drops since 2013 in the percentage of Americans who say they have high ethics. The high ratings of medical professions this year is significant after the Ebola outbreak which infected a number of medical professionals both in the U.S. and in West Africa.

At the other end of the spectrum, in recent years, members of Congress have sunk to the same depths as car salespeople and advertising practitioners. However, in one respect, Congress is even worse, given the historically high percentages rating its members' honesty and ethics as being "low" or "very low." And although November's midterm elections did produce a significant change in membership for the new Congress that begins in January, there were also major shakeups in the 2006 and 2010 midterm elections with little improvement in the way Americans viewed the members who serve in that institution.

Previously in 2014, Gallup found that Americans continue to have low confidence in banks, and while Americans continue to have confidence in small businesses, big businesses do not earn a lot of confidence. This may be the result of Americans' views that bankers and business executives do not have high honesty and ethical standards, and the fact that their ratings dropped since last year.

Survey Methods

Results for this Gallup poll are based on telephone interviews conducted Dec. 8-11, 2014, with a random sample of 805 adults, aged 18 and older, living in all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. For results based on the total sample of national adults, the margin of sampling error is ±4 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Each sample of national adults includes a minimum quota of 50% cellphone respondents and 50% landline respondents, with additional minimum quotas by time zone within region. Landline and cellular telephone numbers are selected using random-digit-dial methods.

Source: www.gallup.com

By  Carly Dell

In the Future of Nursing report published by the Institute of Medicine, it is recommended that health care facilities throughout the United States increase the proportion of nurses with a BSN to 80 percent and double the number of nurses with a DNP by the year 2020. Research shows that nurses who are prepared at baccalaureate and graduate degree levels are linked to lower readmission rates, shorter lengths of patient stay, and lower mortality rates in health care facilities.

What does the job market look like for RNs who are looking to advance their careers?

We tackle this question in our latest infographic, “Career Paths for RNs,” where we look in-depth at the three higher education paths RNs can choose from to advance their careers — Bachelor of Science in Nursing, Master of Science in Nursing, and Doctor of Nursing Practice.

For each career path, we outline the various in-demand specialties, salaries, and job outlook.

Source: onlinenursing.simmons.edu

By S.L. Page

ESFP personality types are very compatible with many areas of nursing. As an ESFP, you’re full of energy and a zest for life. You genuinely enjoy being around people, and you are a true people-person. In fact, some people call your type the “parties,” as you always seem to be looking for a new social event to attend. When there, you can talk for hours and you enjoy being the center of attention. Other personality profiles refer to your type as the “Entertainer” or “Artisan.”

ESFP Overview: What is an ESFP Personality?

An ESFP is one of the main 16 personality types.  An ESFP will have scored the following dominant characteristics on a personality assessment: Extroverted (E), Sensing (S), Feeling (F), and Perceiving (P).  The breakdown and description of each of these dominant characteristics is listed below:

Extroverted (E): As an extrovert, you enjoy a lot of external stimulation. You love hanging with friends, meeting new people, or engaging in external things that stimulate your mind. When you’re isolated for too long at home, you’ll soon begin saying to yourself, “I’ve got to get out of this house!” In fact, you may say that after only one day alone at home!

You probably have a wide circle of friends, and you love getting together for a meal, hanging out, or just striking up a conversation with a random person. Because extroverts tend to enjoy talking and engaging in social situations, they often get labeled as “social butterflies.” You may have even been called a “people person” or “outgoing.” In fact, introverts sometimes get a bad rap due to extroverted people, as people often quip, “Why does that introvert keep to themselves so much? I wish they were more talkative and outgoing.”

You probably dislike writing or reading too much, and you’d much prefer to pick up the phone and make a call as opposed to writing an email. Some extroverts loath writing, although not all feel this way. Some extroverts make great writers, but most prefer face-to-face communication if given the choice. Some extroverts tend to have difficulty expressing their ideas in written form, as their minds are wired to work while engaging. ESFPs can spend a lot of time text messaging contacts, however, because they love to keep up with their friends and acquaintances.

Being an extrovert doesn’t mean that you dislike alone time, it’s just that it tends to suck the life out of you after a while. You get energized and feel most comfortable around other people, especially many friends or family members.

You think better while talking, as opposed to writing or thinking alone. In fact, some of your best solutions or ideas have probably come to you while talking to others. You also tend to blurt out the answer if asked a question. In contrast, introverts hate being put on the spot, and prefer to mull over a question before replying.

Sensing (S):  As a sensing person, your mind tends to think of more rigid “here and now” concepts. You generally tend to think about the “what ifs” only rarely. You tend to notice minor details that other people may overlook. In fact, some people are quite shocked at the fact that you can sometimes make really keen observations. This can be a big benefit in nursing, as you may notice that a patient suddenly doesn’t look so well.

To illustrate how a sensing person things, consider an example of a large container sitting on the edge of a counter.  You would probably look at the large container of fluid and think, “That’s an interesting color. I wonder what this fluid is?” You may also examine the lettering used for the logo, and so forth. You’d probably read the details on the packaging and think about those things.

This type of thinking is in direct contrast with people who have the “intuitive” characteristic. Using this same illustration, an intuitive person may look at the same container you looked at and think thoughts like, “That may fall down. Then it could make a mess. Someone could slip and fall and hurt themselves. We could even be sued.”

That’s not to say that sensing people can’t have moments of intuition, or that people with intuition won’t see more concrete details. But generally speaking, sensing people are very in-tune with details and facts, and tend to not think of the possible scenarios that could happen.

Feeling (F):  As a person with the “feeling” characteristic, you have a strong inclination towards considering how things may affect people or society. When considering a decision, you tend to think of how other people may react, or how other people may be impacted by the consequences. As a result, people (or society in general) can be a big part of your decision making process. This can be a good characteristic to have as a nurse dealing with patients whose lives may be greatly affected by your actions.

Feelers have a very deep and empathetic heart to help people, and they genuinely care for others. If someone asks you how their new haircut looks, you’ll likely be very polite and try to focus on the positives to avoid hurting their feelings–even if the haircut looks terrible.

As a feeler, you also tend to have a strong need for happy relationships, both with yourself and people around you. If people aren’t getting along, it will tend bother you quite a bit. You’re a happy-go-lucky person who enjoys keeping in good standing with people. You also tend to have a natural affection for animals or pets.

This characteristic is in contrast to the “thinking” characteristic, in which people tend to make decisions based on logic, facts, or truth.

Perceiving (P):  As a person with the “perceiving” characteristic, you generally like to live life in a care-free manner. You usually don’t like to make extensive plans, and you prefer to just “wing-it.” You tend to be very adaptable to any given situation. This adaptability and spontaneity gives you a reputation of being a fun and exciting person to hang around.

You are likely to live a somewhat disorganized life, at least internally. You probably have a relatively messy or unorganized home or office space, although this is not true for all ESFPs. This personality characteristic is in contrast to the “judging” type, in which people tend to live in a more organized and controlled manner.

You also tend to procrastinate with deadlines and tasks, but will get a burst of energy when something has to be done. Some ESFPs have a wild side, and are sometimes referred to as “daredevils.” You may enjoy activities such as skydiving, rollercoasters, surfing, or other similar activities that give you that “thrill.”

Nursing Career Possibilities for ESFPs

You are a fun and entertaining “people-person.” You like to live life in a fun-loving way. This can help you quickly and easily connect with patients. You also have the ability to focus on details, and you can easily empathize with other people’s problems. As you make decisions, you ponder how they may affect other people. This means you are likely to keep your patients best interests at heart.

For this reason, there are many areas of nursing that may appeal to you. Floor nursing, pediatric nursing, ER nursing, and other exciting areas may be of interest. For ESFPs who have a daredevil side, you may also enjoy flight nursing. Being a camp nurse is also a good possibility. If you have a strong faith, Parish Nursing may also be a good fit, as you’d love interacting with people on a spiritual level.

There are a few pitfalls you’ll want to avoid on the job. First, ESFPs tend to dislike having to do routine tasks. You like to be stimulated in your environment, and if you have to do dull tasks, you’ll get bored quickly. You also dislike having to read long documents or write reports.

Another area of frustration for ESFPs is working alone. You enjoy the company of people, and if confined to an empty office all day, you’d probably get very exhausted. You get energized talking and engaging with people. You enjoy team settings.

You dislike organizing things due to your spontaneous nature. You like to experience things in real time, and you don’t like to ponder the “what-ifs” in life. You also may struggle clocking in on time.

Possible Nursing Career Matches for ESFPs

• Home Nursing/Private Duty Nursing
• ER Nurse
• Parish Nurse
• Hospice Nurse
• Travel Nurse
• General Floor Nurse
• Ambulatory Nurse
• Pediatric Nurse
• Flight Nurse
• Camp Nurse
• Oncology Nurse

Are You an ESFP? Share Your Input

What areas do you hope to work as an ESFP? What jobs have you loved? What jobs have you hated? Please consider sharing your experience in the comment section below, as this may help other ESFP nurses in their careers.

Source: registerednursern.com