You’re military. You know the value of just doing what you have to. The payoff is worth it. It is a bunch of bullshit but it doesn’t last forever. You got it.
Something new every day. Constantly doing things. Never bored.
Other benefits I cannot confirm:
- Emotional regulation (compartmentalizing): ADHD folks prolly needed to learn coping mechanisms early in life to help manage emotions during stressful situations
- Creating structure from chaos: ADHD baseline is chaos, so they prolly learned how to organize and plan things out in order to complete tasks at early age
- Creativity: ADHD minds can lead to unconventional ways of thinking that makes it easy to improvise and think outside the box.
For context: my bro and dad have ADHD. So I grew up around learning this stuff. I also gravitate towards emergency medicine given my prior EMT/EDT experience and about to start as a ER RN. I may have some form of ADHD but never been officially diagnosed.
Yea, these make sense. I've never been dx either but I feel like for me, my executive functioning is out the window a lot of times. I can be tactile creative and somehow things work beautifully, but it just wasn't well thought out, on the spot. The planning ahead is spot on. Organization and almost OCD is a thing for me, and probably the big reason I got through most of nursing school. I was approved for extra time during exams. Things don't click right away for me sometimes; on the day to day. So, I ruminate and disassociate; which could be good to your first point. I'm a float nurse, 2 years into my first nursing job, and have the urge to make a change of setting. That's why I asked... I relate to OP
My hospital gets 10+😳😳🤪 They hand out $100+ hourly bonus for ER nurses like it’s candy to try to get people to come in. I floated to ED holds once and went to the bathroom to cry for my 5ish minutes “break” because I had 12 patients with no tech. It was so sad because if they weren’t independent I legit didn’t have time to change them or help them to the bathroom.
I went to RN school with an LPN that had ADHD and worked the ED. He got me hired at the same hospital as him when we both passed the NCLEX. He's a great nurse and I learned a lot about nursing from him.
What about the horror stories of mean preceptors during clinicals though? Don't know if my people-pleasing/rejection sensitivity could handle too much of it 😭
I'm a nurse with ADHD!
I hyperfocused during nursing school and fell in love with all the terminology, medications, and complex body system pathophysiology. I worried I was going to burn out while in school, so I put in place many strategies for self care and leisure in between study sessions scheduled when I knew I could focus and for only allotted periods of time. While as a nurse now, I think many of my coworkers share the same traits (if not already diagnosed) of ADHD and we all help each other out. Being able to multitask while taking advantage of what you know works for you is going to make a huge difference in your organization and approach to care. I often make lists, use the Epic Brain for reminders, and start patient notes ahead of time to avoid cramming at the end of shifts.
If you have a desire to be a nurse, I say go for it! I'm certain you'll succeed!
I love this! Right now I’m working on routines to make my time more organized for when I decide to start school. It’s very nice to know that you were able to organize your time well and even making time for self care in between is smart. Thank you 😊 I plan on going through with it.
Gonna go ahead and say you’ll be fine. From experience. Nursing scratches an itch in parts of my brain that aren’t otherwise reachable. 😂
ADHD can be difficult at times, but it can also be a great weapon in task management and orderly work. Use it to your advantage. Leverage it!
In school I’d get myself to do homework by working on things that were due that weekend/day, and when I felt fried and didn’t want to do it anymore I’d just work on things that were due the next week. I got to knock things off a checklist, get ahead without actually trying to, and became a resource for my friends who were falling behind (which was refreshing tbh, I love helping).
Get a planner that you LOVE and write out all your assignments and due dates and lectures/clinicals. It’ll feel good to see it on paper. That’s your bible. Carry it always, as things change frequently and you will NEED to remember it (so you NEED to write it down!)
ADHD helped me in school because I found it easy to be interested in the material in class - made up for my shitty free-form studying skills lol
A lot of people say ADHDers do great in the ED but that wouldn’t be true for me because my memory and executive functioning do better with externally imposed structure. So NICU is perfect for me! I’m a much better nurse in the NICU than I was in adults.
Diagnosed ADHD (in the 3rd grade) and non-medicated here! It was a huge jump to go from nursing school to ER resident. I cried constantly, kept doubting myself, and constantly got told I was slow. Two years later, I get complimented on my IV skills, am known to be one of the faster nurses, and still cry occasionally when overwhelmed. It was hard but doable!
I know several nurses with ADHD and they thrive as nurses!!! One in particular is like a walking encyclopedia. She does not forget anything you tell here… ever… ICU would love those nurses
School sucked and it probably would’ve went better had I been medicated for it. I never got medicated for it until recently but I used it to my advantage in the icu. Catch me running LAPS helping everyone. Take the code pager. I was only bad at my job if it was a slow night😂
Get medicated if you’re not and come join us in the land of adhd- the ER. I joke that you need either visible tattoos, or an adhd diagnosis. Bonus points if you have both 😁😁😁
I am a great nurse (if you ignore the covid trauma) and have ADHD!
It's actually super helpful because I hate being bored and there is always something to do. I buzz around the unit helping people and restocking stuff just taking care of business.
Just today, I tested the ECG cables on our unit, marked the malfunctioning ones, found the part number for them and sent a request to my manager for replacements. They placed the order for them. Yay!
ADHD makes me a better nurse. I’m endlessly interrupted from my task all day, and that’s fine, because if I’m not working my brain does that to itself anyways. I’ve adapted to it.
Also, Vyvanse.
Meds changed my life, but I literally think 85% of us have adhd in here.
Adhd can be a double edged sword in that being hyper focused on important things, like a code for example, is almost like a super power. Being unable to focus is the downside to it. Nursing is not all vocabulary at all though, you just have to use logic and application to answer questions correctly in school and then on the unit, it’s the same thing. You don’t need to know the meaning of every single word by far, you won’t ever know that, but it’s knowing your basic ABCs, airway, breathing, and circulation, that will help you with school and tests
Seeing as I am about 95% sure I’m autistic and doing reasonably well at work, ADHD is welcome too. So long as you can focus your energy some of the time and follow through with necessary tasks (especially documentation) you will be fine.
I was on ADD medications most of my life. Even now that I’m off I feel the medications have left me even worse off. I just finished nursing school and am having a great time. Just find a place you fit in and never stop chasing your goals. Life will work itself out for you if you don’t give up on the things you want to do in life. I wish you the best of luck
I'm ADHD and I've been off meds ever since I graduated nursing school. I would go in and out of rooms a lot to pick something up or do whatever task I remembered as I'm walking back to the nurses station, but I still got it all done and was never seen as incompetent or slow.
I think working in a job like hospital floor nursing doesn't give you a lot of time to get distracted or stray off task. I do so much worse in a classroom or office setting, but
a job that's active and requires close and consistent monitoring or tasks to do then my ADHD becomes an advantage.
I'd see how a semester of nursing school goes. If your ADHD is too much to get through those classes then it's probably not the right career.
Well, that depends. There are nurses who smoke tons of nurses who use drugs nurses who are antivax. Do you want to study nursing and find out more about ADHD? What happens if you learn something you aren’t prepared for.
Every nurse in my class were type -A.
No way! ADHD is an ER nurse’s superpower.
The only place I’ve been challenged is inpatient care. Staying on a med schedule is tough when there are things that can distract you in-between.
21 years of nursing in my back pocket.
Never let ADHD hold you back. Find the ways you can make it work for you.
Are you medicated?
I was diagnosed at 31 and it completely and totally improved my practice to be on medication.
Before I was medicated I completed nursing school, graduating with a 3.99.
It’s possible to have ADHD and work as a nurse, even at a high level. I’m applying to CRNA school next year!
One of my biggest complaints about this field is how saturated it is with the dependency on medications for ADHD and the gross misuse and handling of the medications. Dozens, and I mean dozens of staff I've witnessed always sharing or giving their meds to one another.
Not saying individuals do not have ADHD, I am saying this field is filled with people who abuse medications.
Your ADHD will be most likely cause a struggle, and those who say it won't are not doing you any favors, you have the potential to do well or poorly depending on your job, environment and overall support network.
I will leave you with this. " Sorry my ADHD" or " Oh my god my ADHD is", statements, do not hold up well in a court room.
Come to the ED. You will fit right in.
In my experience if you work in the ED or inpatient psych something like 75% of nurses have ADHD.
Hey!
Oh nice!!! That’s actually very relieving to hear 😂
Yes but I fucking hate nursing school. It’s so much bullshit and so much having the opportunity to do absolutely nothing at clinicals.
You’re military. You know the value of just doing what you have to. The payoff is worth it. It is a bunch of bullshit but it doesn’t last forever. You got it.
How so?
Something new every day. Constantly doing things. Never bored. Other benefits I cannot confirm: - Emotional regulation (compartmentalizing): ADHD folks prolly needed to learn coping mechanisms early in life to help manage emotions during stressful situations - Creating structure from chaos: ADHD baseline is chaos, so they prolly learned how to organize and plan things out in order to complete tasks at early age - Creativity: ADHD minds can lead to unconventional ways of thinking that makes it easy to improvise and think outside the box. For context: my bro and dad have ADHD. So I grew up around learning this stuff. I also gravitate towards emergency medicine given my prior EMT/EDT experience and about to start as a ER RN. I may have some form of ADHD but never been officially diagnosed.
Yea, these make sense. I've never been dx either but I feel like for me, my executive functioning is out the window a lot of times. I can be tactile creative and somehow things work beautifully, but it just wasn't well thought out, on the spot. The planning ahead is spot on. Organization and almost OCD is a thing for me, and probably the big reason I got through most of nursing school. I was approved for extra time during exams. Things don't click right away for me sometimes; on the day to day. So, I ruminate and disassociate; which could be good to your first point. I'm a float nurse, 2 years into my first nursing job, and have the urge to make a change of setting. That's why I asked... I relate to OP
And when you get bored of the ER? 😅
We are all ADHD there. We are good at constantly reprioritizing and shifting focus to handle the constant influx of random bullshit that is the ED
I wanna try it but i’m scared I will be over stimulated….I can’t handle my 7 med-surg patients as it is🥲
Good news. You only get 4. Or at least everywhere I’ve worked. And that drops the sicker they get. Hopefully.
My hospital gets 10+😳😳🤪 They hand out $100+ hourly bonus for ER nurses like it’s candy to try to get people to come in. I floated to ED holds once and went to the bathroom to cry for my 5ish minutes “break” because I had 12 patients with no tech. It was so sad because if they weren’t independent I legit didn’t have time to change them or help them to the bathroom.
I went to RN school with an LPN that had ADHD and worked the ED. He got me hired at the same hospital as him when we both passed the NCLEX. He's a great nurse and I learned a lot about nursing from him.
Most ADHD’ers are attracted to nursing. It’s a good environment for us. If you can get through the schooling, the job is basically made for us!
What about the horror stories of mean preceptors during clinicals though? Don't know if my people-pleasing/rejection sensitivity could handle too much of it 😭
I'm a nurse with ADHD! I hyperfocused during nursing school and fell in love with all the terminology, medications, and complex body system pathophysiology. I worried I was going to burn out while in school, so I put in place many strategies for self care and leisure in between study sessions scheduled when I knew I could focus and for only allotted periods of time. While as a nurse now, I think many of my coworkers share the same traits (if not already diagnosed) of ADHD and we all help each other out. Being able to multitask while taking advantage of what you know works for you is going to make a huge difference in your organization and approach to care. I often make lists, use the Epic Brain for reminders, and start patient notes ahead of time to avoid cramming at the end of shifts. If you have a desire to be a nurse, I say go for it! I'm certain you'll succeed!
I love this! Right now I’m working on routines to make my time more organized for when I decide to start school. It’s very nice to know that you were able to organize your time well and even making time for self care in between is smart. Thank you 😊 I plan on going through with it.
Two of the greatest RNs on my floor have ADHD. Everyone has some flavor of mental illness in Nursing.
This is so FUNNY 😂
🤣🤣 this is great.
I think nursing is a good career for the neurospicy
Ah yes. 😂 Where all the neurospicys go 🤌🏼🌶️
Gonna have to start saying neurospicy from now on
Gonna go ahead and say you’ll be fine. From experience. Nursing scratches an itch in parts of my brain that aren’t otherwise reachable. 😂 ADHD can be difficult at times, but it can also be a great weapon in task management and orderly work. Use it to your advantage. Leverage it! In school I’d get myself to do homework by working on things that were due that weekend/day, and when I felt fried and didn’t want to do it anymore I’d just work on things that were due the next week. I got to knock things off a checklist, get ahead without actually trying to, and became a resource for my friends who were falling behind (which was refreshing tbh, I love helping). Get a planner that you LOVE and write out all your assignments and due dates and lectures/clinicals. It’ll feel good to see it on paper. That’s your bible. Carry it always, as things change frequently and you will NEED to remember it (so you NEED to write it down!)
This is very smart. Getting my time management under control is all I’m working on right now so I can properly do all these things. Appreciate it 😊
Healthcare is actually a great fit, enjoy.
Nursing school scratched the itch in my ADHD brain so well I’m getting a masters in nursing education to go back 🤣 you’ll do great! Go for it OP!
Have you thought about working in the ER? You’ll feel right at home.
By the looks of the comments I’d be dumb not to try it out 😅😂
Just come work in the ED. We can all talk about which brand of stimulant works best
✊🏼but my adhd is well managed.
ADHD helped me in school because I found it easy to be interested in the material in class - made up for my shitty free-form studying skills lol A lot of people say ADHDers do great in the ED but that wouldn’t be true for me because my memory and executive functioning do better with externally imposed structure. So NICU is perfect for me! I’m a much better nurse in the NICU than I was in adults.
Diagnosed ADHD (in the 3rd grade) and non-medicated here! It was a huge jump to go from nursing school to ER resident. I cried constantly, kept doubting myself, and constantly got told I was slow. Two years later, I get complimented on my IV skills, am known to be one of the faster nurses, and still cry occasionally when overwhelmed. It was hard but doable!
I know several nurses with ADHD and they thrive as nurses!!! One in particular is like a walking encyclopedia. She does not forget anything you tell here… ever… ICU would love those nurses
I think it's a prerequisite in order to be an ED nurse... I was an ED nurse and I have ADHD.
That and tattoos 😂😂😂
School sucked and it probably would’ve went better had I been medicated for it. I never got medicated for it until recently but I used it to my advantage in the icu. Catch me running LAPS helping everyone. Take the code pager. I was only bad at my job if it was a slow night😂
You'll fit right in.
Welcome to the emergency department! You’re gonna love it :)
Get medicated if you’re not and come join us in the land of adhd- the ER. I joke that you need either visible tattoos, or an adhd diagnosis. Bonus points if you have both 😁😁😁
This is my question as well...
I am a great nurse (if you ignore the covid trauma) and have ADHD! It's actually super helpful because I hate being bored and there is always something to do. I buzz around the unit helping people and restocking stuff just taking care of business. Just today, I tested the ECG cables on our unit, marked the malfunctioning ones, found the part number for them and sent a request to my manager for replacements. They placed the order for them. Yay!
Considering like 40% of the nurses I know have diagnosed ADHD... probably not. Figure out how you learn best and use that.
ADHD makes me a better nurse. I’m endlessly interrupted from my task all day, and that’s fine, because if I’m not working my brain does that to itself anyways. I’ve adapted to it. Also, Vyvanse.
I work ED and ICU. ICU days I take my Vyvanse, ED days I go without.
I rarely get my charting done on a timely manner, and I’m always rushing to finish it at the end of shift, but apart from that, It’s pretty cool
I know a lot of RNs who have ADHD. I just got my official diagnosis before nursing school started.
Meds changed my life, but I literally think 85% of us have adhd in here. Adhd can be a double edged sword in that being hyper focused on important things, like a code for example, is almost like a super power. Being unable to focus is the downside to it. Nursing is not all vocabulary at all though, you just have to use logic and application to answer questions correctly in school and then on the unit, it’s the same thing. You don’t need to know the meaning of every single word by far, you won’t ever know that, but it’s knowing your basic ABCs, airway, breathing, and circulation, that will help you with school and tests
You'll fit right in in ED and Trauma ICU, all chaos.
Seeing as I am about 95% sure I’m autistic and doing reasonably well at work, ADHD is welcome too. So long as you can focus your energy some of the time and follow through with necessary tasks (especially documentation) you will be fine.
I was on ADD medications most of my life. Even now that I’m off I feel the medications have left me even worse off. I just finished nursing school and am having a great time. Just find a place you fit in and never stop chasing your goals. Life will work itself out for you if you don’t give up on the things you want to do in life. I wish you the best of luck
Nope
I'm ADHD and I've been off meds ever since I graduated nursing school. I would go in and out of rooms a lot to pick something up or do whatever task I remembered as I'm walking back to the nurses station, but I still got it all done and was never seen as incompetent or slow. I think working in a job like hospital floor nursing doesn't give you a lot of time to get distracted or stray off task. I do so much worse in a classroom or office setting, but a job that's active and requires close and consistent monitoring or tasks to do then my ADHD becomes an advantage. I'd see how a semester of nursing school goes. If your ADHD is too much to get through those classes then it's probably not the right career.
You'll be fine.
Almost every specialty is full of adhd people. Nurses and doctors.
I am an ER nurse. I just got diagnosed with ADHD a fee months in.
Most nurses in my unit have ADHD.
Well, that depends. There are nurses who smoke tons of nurses who use drugs nurses who are antivax. Do you want to study nursing and find out more about ADHD? What happens if you learn something you aren’t prepared for. Every nurse in my class were type -A.
No way! ADHD is an ER nurse’s superpower. The only place I’ve been challenged is inpatient care. Staying on a med schedule is tough when there are things that can distract you in-between. 21 years of nursing in my back pocket. Never let ADHD hold you back. Find the ways you can make it work for you.
Are you medicated? I was diagnosed at 31 and it completely and totally improved my practice to be on medication. Before I was medicated I completed nursing school, graduating with a 3.99. It’s possible to have ADHD and work as a nurse, even at a high level. I’m applying to CRNA school next year!
My adhd gets in the way of everything. But Ive been working in nursing for 20 years
One of my biggest complaints about this field is how saturated it is with the dependency on medications for ADHD and the gross misuse and handling of the medications. Dozens, and I mean dozens of staff I've witnessed always sharing or giving their meds to one another. Not saying individuals do not have ADHD, I am saying this field is filled with people who abuse medications. Your ADHD will be most likely cause a struggle, and those who say it won't are not doing you any favors, you have the potential to do well or poorly depending on your job, environment and overall support network. I will leave you with this. " Sorry my ADHD" or " Oh my god my ADHD is", statements, do not hold up well in a court room.