Psychological Type and Explanatory Style of Nursing Students and Clinical Faculty

Health care providers' collaboration and effective teamwork are essential to patient safety and quality care. Part of an ongoing project, this study focused on nursing faculty-student communication characteristics, specifically examining psychological type (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) and explanatory style (Attributional Style Questionnaire) of participating first-year baccalaureate nursing students (n = 286) and clinical nursing faculty (n = 59) from both 2-year and 4-year nursing programs. Modal student psychological type was ESFJ, and modal faculty psychological type was ISTJ. The two groups demonstrated significant differences in information processing styles and in making decisions and judgments. Students demonstrated slightly more optimistic outlooks than did faculty. Psychological type and level of optimism did not appear to correlate. Data from this study provide an initial framework on which to base research to examine quality of teamwork among health care providers and, consequently, the quality of patient care.