Nurses with ADD/ADHD?

Thom Hartmann has written some excellent books about coping with ADD/ADHD.

Another good resource:

HELLOto all you ADDers! My story is so much like so many of all yours. I have been in the Nursing field for 20+ starting as an LPN and graduating with my ASN (barely) but yea me. 2 of the instructors pegged me as the one they would try to fail out or get me to quit. Fortunately after many years of being emotionally beaten up by nurses in the field, it is nearly impossible to get me to quit anything. . Its not the nursing that is defeating it is the details, paperwork, and the tornado in my head around hour 8 of a 12 hour shift. I do not have The "H" part, so finding the right mix of meds has been difficult ( I was diagnosed while in school a few years ago when I was almost failed out of a class) I fall into a very small catagory of ADDers, female, and never able to find coping skills through the years. multiple almost fatal car accidents, failed marriage, shy, due to always having the wrong thing fall out of my mouth at the wrong time!!! Many lost wallets, I even remember on several occasions leaving something in the oven an leaving,,, I gave my neighbor a key, she has saved my house a couple of time!! Its bad. When I started medication I was like the sun coming through rain clouds after years of raining. BEAUTIFUL. But it did not fix everthing. I found working as a case manager for a small home health company was a good fit, but alas it got to busy for my mind to keep up with and I was let go. It was devistating, the people were like family to me. A crushing blow. Now I am just starting a job On a VERY busy ortho-med surg floor. I can turn over discharge and admit all six patients in one shift. I am drowning. I feel so stupid, the charge nurse asked me on the fly if a patient in a paticular room had gone home, I said yes only to realize that it was the wrong room I told them, only after the removed this patient from the computer system, meds and all, aughhhhhhhh! they think I am more and more incapable as each day goes on. I am smart, I love being a nurse, my patients love me, but that is where the love ends, as new grad, (2008) I need to put in at least 2 years on the floor in order to reach my long term goals. I need help advice how to pace myself, I am methodical (if i thing slower I am very accurate, but at such a high pace I cant remember to PEE somtimes!!!! I made my own cheatsheet, but I cant seem to get a rhythm that gets me through a 12 hr shift. any advice from those of you who feel people see you as stupid, and incompitent. 45 single mom, frustrated and wihout a support system. i am at the point I would rather quit than deal with the humiliation, the tears are ready to flow. Can ANYONE give me advice?

Hang in there.. it gets better. And u WILL find your rythmn. I have learntd to say "I am not sure, but let me check or, which pt or rm # was that?" I try to take good notes & refer to my SBAR's when I need too. Other's need to be more pacient if they want the correct info. I was very lucky that my preceptor also taught me how to "call" a dr to report on a pt (try always to have vitals, labs + med list available). I also try to have my computer open when I call a dr.(if I'm lucky enough to get him or her quickly) + the chart so I can rapidly write down orders & repeat them back.
I take my positives & try to remember them 1st & foremost. They r what help me to feel confident as a nurse. Also, yes, I cried after nearly every shift for months. Then things started going right. Plus I found a terrific LPN to vent to & to ask questions. You r still learning. It is perfectly OK to ask questions!

And, yea, something u didn't mention, but I know it has probably happened: sometimes the next shift nurse can be difficult to give report too... when I am feeling REALLY stressed by their behavior or they make a comment; I say: "I am only human & I do the best I can." Or "please be pacient with me, it's been a rough day." And when I was a new RN " I am still in my 1st yr, please forgive me & if you can, can please give me some advise on how to do it in a simpler/better way." We all remember what it was like to be a new grad. I really wish I would have been more comfortable w/asking more questions! But now, 2yrs & 4m into this I now ask (& sometimes they ask me, or we look it up together!!)
Hang in there! You can do this!
~MJ

First time poster.
I graduated cum laude and sigma theta tau, 2 months ago with my dx of add. I was hired onto an elite unit in critical care and was so happy and excited. Within my first 30 days, I was disciplined for problems with multitasking and making mistakes on my charting. However, I get consistent praise from patient families and high marks on communication skills with families and doctors. When a new preceptor scared the pants off me, I just couldn't do anything right. It's as if the fear of demonstrating my skills in front of her wiped my memory out completely. It was a day from hell. I made a critical mistake and hung a drug incorrectly. Right rate, wrong line. No harm came to the pt but the preceptor wrote a 2 page documentation regarding her concerns of my ineptitude. I'm shattered. I seem to do well with learning when I kept the same preceptor and had time to think before acting. WHen I was told that I am not going to make it if i can't be faster, along with safer and with better documentation, my heart just started sinking. I'm a second degree BSN with prior experience in technology, sales and health education and I"ve never felt like such a failure. I can't sleep. I can't eat because i'm on the verge of tears about feeling so stupid. The CNS has written a plan that I am to follow to improve or ... there's not be a mention of or btu i assume it's being fired. It's possible that this unit was too complicated for me as a graduate without any prior hospital experience but i feel so trapped. I don't know what to do. Do I continue to try and do my best? Do I agree with my preceptors assessment and leave before orientation is over to try and get another unit job that is less acuity/ more repetitive? Will I be left without an opportunity to transfer?
My CNS says my alternatives are to stay and try harder, leave the unit and apply for other jobs int he org ( would i get even a recommendation?) or to quit altogether.
I'm getting so depressed. I am trying so hard. I feel like such a failure.
I'm on meds. I just have problems with organization when faced iwth a new type of patient or experience.

Can anyone help me? I have noone to talk to. I don't trust this person with my diagnosis.
I am seriously considering leaving nursing.
help?

Re: Nurses with ADD/ADHD?HELLOto all you ADDers! My story is so much like so many of all yours. I have been in the Nursing field for 20+ starting as an LPN and graduating with my ASN (barely) but yea me. 2 of the instructors pegged me as the one they would try to fail out or get me to quit. Fortunately after many years of being emotionally beaten up by nurses in the field, it is nearly impossible to get me to quit anything. . Its not the nursing that is defeating it is the details, paperwork, and the tornado in my head around hour 8 of a 12 hour shift. I do not have The "H" part, so finding the right mix of meds has been difficult ( I was diagnosed while in school a few years ago when I was almost failed out of a class) I fall into a very small catagory of ADDers, female, and never able to find coping skills through the years. multiple almost fatal car accidents, failed marriage, shy, due to always having the wrong thing fall out of my mouth at the wrong time!!! Many lost wallets, I even remember on several occasions leaving something in the oven an leaving,,, I gave my neighbor a key, she has saved my house a couple of time!! Its bad. When I started medication I was like the sun coming through rain clouds after years of raining. BEAUTIFUL. But it did not fix everthing. I found working as a case manager for a small home health company was a good fit, but alas it got to busy for my mind to keep up with and I was let go. It was devistating, the people were like family to me. A crushing blow. Now I am just starting a job On a VERY busy ortho-med surg floor. I can turn over discharge and admit all six patients in one shift. I am drowning. I feel so stupid, the charge nurse asked me on the fly if a patient in a paticular room had gone home, I said yes only to realize that it was the wrong room I told them, only after the removed this patient from the computer system, meds and all, aughhhhhhhh! they think I am more and more incapable as each day goes on. I am smart, I love being a nurse, my patients love me, but that is where the love ends, as new grad, (2008) I need to put in at least 2 years on the floor in order to reach my long term goals. I need help advice how to pace myself, I am methodical (if i thing slower I am very accurate, but at such a high pace I cant remember to PEE somtimes!!!! I made my own cheatsheet, but I cant seem to get a rhythm that gets me through a 12 hr shift. any advice from those of you who feel people see you as stupid, and incompitent. 45 single mom, frustrated and wihout a support system. i am at the point I would rather quit than deal with the humiliation, the tears are ready to flow. Can ANYONE give me advice?

THIS THREAD HAS BEEN A GODSEND!

I have loved reading the responses here, so comforting to know that it CAN be done! someone mentioned a while ago "feeling like I work 3x as hard to do 1/2 as well" and that is truly how I feel and it is that experience that caused me to swallow my pride, get evaluated, get medicated. Adderall XR is what I take.

so heres my ?.

I'm starting to build a tolerance, and have been feeling recently that my dose is not working. yesterday in clinical I screwed up with documentation big time. I found myself back in familiar the boat of just not being as present as I can be when I am on the right dose. Over the course of 2 years, I am still taking the adderall but I feel like I'm not experiencing the benefit that i once did. Part of me wants to try to taper down so I can start over again. I am taking 30mg/d and for the first time have been using my whole script. I dont want to keep increasing my dose and im hitting a brick wall. i also have a boyfriend that gets upset with me for taking it, saying i'm "not myself" and that the whole disorder is totally mental because everyone has ADD. he's a psych major which makes him think he can make these incorrect and hurtful assumptions. even my parents get upset about the cost, they think im addicted or selling it to my friends, etc.

I dont want to rely on medication, but feel its my only option right now, as the coursework is not getting easier. I do not think my NP will give me a higher dose, and I hate living with this guilt for being COMPLIANT! i thought this was a good thing and now its just making me resent the medication, which is not the problem, it is part of the answer! sorry this is becoming a rant.

any input on dosing or changes would be much appreciated!



best of luck to you all!

bluelou,

all i can say is hang in there. i am so sorry you are experiencing this. i've had an instructor like this and I found peace in knowing that just because she was burnt out, she was not going to chase me away. the way she is treating you is not fair or ethical. it is so hard when these details get the best of you, and it sometimes feel like the small details make us forget al of the great work we do every day, how we apply ourselves in so many ways and have to self regulate in ways that most people simply cannot relate to. you recognize that your mistake could have been disastrous, but you did not harm your patient and I am confident that in the future you will be more careful. these things really do happen to everyone, though it may not feel like it now. the worst thing you can do at this point is continue to doubt yourself. I know too well that it is way easier said than done. get good sleep. exercise when you can to get out some of the negative energy and clear your head. eat good food, call an old friend, and remember to be peaceful at heart.

hope this all works out for you

I was diagnosed in March 09. I am 25 years old in LPN school and planning to go back for my RN. I only had realized that I might have it when I was surfing the web (which is one of my favorite things to do) and came across some other s/s of it that are not your basic adhd test type questions and it hit me! Maybe that is it. My problem I have been struggling with my whole life but could never quite figure out why i was so different from others. Why I hated school and could never sit through a whole class without excusing myself to the bathroom. I went to my doctor who seemed sort of weary (for lack of a better word.. struggling with word retreival right about now ) about the whole thing but he decided to try me on Strattera. I have been on it for not quiet a year yet and I have noticed some differences. I am better at word retreival now and my memory has definatly improved. As for motivation I'm still lacking in that aspect of my life. I plan on going to a psychiatrist when i'm finished with school in march to decide if I would benefit more from a stimulant med. My doctor doesnt seem to want to prescribe me one. I do well in nursing school.. sometimes i wonder if the teachers are being nice or if i am actually smart! Hopefully RN school wont be a rude awakening for me The only thing i'm dreading is the time management and organizational part of nursing. I think I might struggle with that for a little. Any tips???? GOOD LUCK GUYS YOU ARE NOT ALONE!