Type of Personality and Characteristics of Nurses in Pediatric Intensive Care Unit

In recent years, correlation between personality and professional success has become increasingly evident. In modern times, it is well accepted that a persons' personality combined with their abilities are a prerequisite for the successful practice of any profession.

The aim of this study was to explore factors associated with ICU nurses' personality types.

The sample of the study included 102 nurses working pediatric ICUs. Data collection was performed by the method of the interview using the questionnaire "Greek Version of the TIPI (Ten-Item Personality Inventory)"which includes the following traits: a) Openness to Experience, b) Conscientiousness, c) Extraversion, d) Agreeableness and e) Emotional Stability.

A fairly high "agreement" (above average) was observed with all five personality types of the "TIPI" scale (median val ≥5 in all subscales). After multiple linear regression, it was found that nurses who wished to move from the ICU have 0.42 units lower "Extraversion" compared to those who do not wish to (β=-0.42, 95%CI: -0.88 - -0.04). An increase in the age of the nurses by one year increases the score of "Agreeableness" by 0.02 units (β=0.02, 95%CI: 0.01 - 0.04) and the score of "Conscientiousness" by 0.03 points (β=0.03, 95%CI: 0.01 - 0.06). Male pediatric ICU nurses have a 3.95-point higher score of "Openness to experience" than women (β=3.95, 95%CI: 2.96-5.64). No factor was found to be significantly associated with "emotional stability".

Conclusion: Nurses characteristics are associated personality traits. For the health sciences, this is important to recognizes the vital characteristics that make a health professional a competent, safe and ethical worker.