The personality characteristics of emergency nurses

Abstract

Background: There are ever increasing demands on the emergency nursing workforce so it is necessary to consider how to enhance the recruitment and retention of emergency nurses. Personality is known to influence occupational choice, yet there is a lack of research exploring how personality may influence the workforce decisions of emergency nurses. Aims: To establish the personality profile of a sample of emergency nurses, and to explore whether any relationship exists between their personality characteristics and time spent working within emergency nursing. Methods: A standardised personality assessment instrument, the NEO™-PI-3, was used along with a demographic survey. Data were collected from 72 emergency nurses in an Australian Emergency Department between July and October 2012. Descriptive statistics were used to report demographics and the personality assessment results were compared against general population norms in each of the five personality domains and their 30 associated facets using a one-sample t-test. A two-sided alpha level of .01 was determined to indicate statistical significance. Results: Emergency nurse participants scored higher than the population norms in the domains of extraversion, openness to experience and agreeableness, and in twelve facets, including excitement seeking, vulnerability and competence. Conclusion: The personality profile of this sample of emergency nurses is different from the established population norms. Further research is required to establish whether these study results are applicable to the wider emergency nurse workforce and to establish any link with personality and other nursing specialty choice, which may assist in improving nursing workforce retention and recruitment.