Type at the Family Conference Table: Extraverted Sensing

Posted 19 May 2016 by
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Written by Mathew David Pauley, JD, MA, MDR Leaving the hospital is often wrought with anxiety for family members faced with numerous things they must address for the patient. Hospitals are staffed with highly trained and highly attentive teams of caregivers, so the prospect of a loved one leaving the relative's safety with the hospital can be nerve wracking. Even moving from one unit to another within the same hospital is often cause for concern. That said, everyone who enters a hospital should have a well-thought-out plan as to how to leave the hospital.

Discharge planners meet with patients (and more often family members) to discuss everything they’ll need to go home, or to a nursing home. ESTP and ESFPs, whose favorite mental function is Extraverted Sensing, are often described as hyper-present (being in-the-moment) and aware of what is before them. Consequently, they can adjust, flex, and move tactically as the situation dictates. For example, an ESTP son or daughter may not even balk at the series of obstacles they may have to face to get Mom back home—from checking out nursing homes to procuring medical equipment to reacting when discharge is delayed for two days due to an infection. At their best, they easily engage both the problem and the people, they need to in order to get to where they want to be.

However, healthcare can overwhelm anyone, regardless of their favorite mental function. It often requires people to constantly think about the future, and attempt to have contingency plan on top of contingency plans. Mom may fall. Mom may need CPR. Should CPR be performed? Mom’s disease is only going to get worse. She may stop being able to swallow. She may forget who you are. And so on. And possibilities compound upon each other. Whereas INTJs and INFJs, whose favorite mental process is Introverted Intuition, tend to be effective at anticipating and planning for what may occur, that can take ESTPs and ESFPs away from the present, where they are most effective. It may also lead them to focus too much on what needs to get done and how, and ignore or misconstrue why they are working so hard.

Healthcare decisions can be divided into immediate (or urgent) decisions and long-term decisions. Immediacy is where Extraverted Sensing individuals tend to prosper, and their responsiveness in those situations is invaluable.

In addressing those long-term and future-focused decisions that are wrought with a lot of negative possibilities, encourage the decision-maker to take time to focus on values of the patient and consider how those values can assist him or her to set better priorities and subsequent responses.

Want to read more? Check out my previous blogs in this series:

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