Do doctors, nurses and managers have different thinking styles?
PMID 20797372 · Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association · 2010 · DOI 10.1071/AH09791
Authors: Ruth M Sladek; Malcolm J Bond; Paddy A Phillips
Abstract
A study of the preferred thinking styles among senior health professionals is reported. A total of 49 medical consultants, 50 senior nurses and 53 health managers from two public teaching hospitals in Adelaide, Australia, were invited via a personal letter to complete a questionnaire comprising measures of thinking style (the Rational Experiential Inventory) and cognitive style (two dimensions of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator). Managers reported a higher preference for 'rational' reasoning than nurses, whereas medical consultants reported a lower preference for 'experiential' reasoning than both managers and nurses. Cognitive style was largely homogenous. Although generalisation of the findings may be limited due to small sample sizes and the self-selection of participants, an understanding of the thinking styles of senior health professionals will likely inform the design and evaluation of future change strategies.
Administrative Personnel; Female; Health Facility Administrators; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Nurses; Personality; Physicians; South Australia; Surveys and Questionnaires; Thinking
Cite
Ruth M Sladek; Malcolm J Bond; Paddy A Phillips. Do doctors, nurses and managers have different thinking styles? Australian health review : a publication of the Australian Hospital Association (2010). PMID 20797372. DOI 10.1071/AH09791.