Nurses with ADD/ADHD?

Nurses Stress 101

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Hey all! I was wondering if there are any nurses with ADD/ADHD out there who want to comiserate and support each other? I know I need the help/advice. It might also be a place for "regular" people (I hate the word normal) to come and read and understand what its like for us. Or ask us ?'s.

I'll start with an intro:p I'm 29, and I've had an official diagnosis for less than 2 years, but have been trying to find the answer (for what's up with me) for MUCH longer than that:uhoh21: :) I currently work night shift at a drug rehab and on call at a nursing home. I have a lot of trouble in staff meetings - sitting through them, being treated like a brat because I actually show some emotion. I had much difficulty in school, (I didn't know back then), not with grades but with social stuff. I almost got kicked out of school because of the problems I was having.

But its not all bad. I'm funny and creative and often am able to connect with my patients in unique ways.

So we'll see how many of us there are out there?:)

Hi everyone

Although I have been 'lurking' around this website since 2002, this is the first time I'm actually participating.

Nurse with ADD/ADHD....thats me...been diagnosed since 1999...I was 26 @ the time. I ttok adderall....best drug in the world once we figured out what dosage worked well with me. Too much & i would be so mellow I'd nearly fall asleep...too little & i was my hyper self!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish u ALL the best...u can do whatever u set your mind to do. As a person with ADD/ADHD u are different....but then again aren't we all. When I say different I mean that in a good way!!!!!! U are creative, spontaneous, hilarious, charming...& much more. Good luck & god bless u.

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Hi everyone

Although I have been 'lurking' around this website since 2002, this is the first time I'm actually participating.

Nurse with ADD/ADHD....thats me...been diagnosed since 1999...I was 26 @ the time. I ttok adderall....best drug in the world once we figured out what dosage worked well with me. Too much & i would be so mellow I'd nearly fall asleep...too little & i was my hyper self!!!!!!!!!!!

I wish u ALL the best...u can do whatever u set your mind to do. As a person with ADD/ADHD u are different....but then again aren't we all. When I say different I mean that in a good way!!!!!! U are creative, spontaneous, hilarious, charming...& much more. Good luck & god bless u.

SMS...

Please, post more often! You are extra smart!

Too much amphetamine, that is surely the REAL dx for AD/HD! Too much Dex and I want to crawl under my desk and take a nap! If I can't sleep at night I take a Dex!

I swear, the only reason my body exists is to follow my mouth around and accept the consequences of my mouth.

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Bipley...u are absolutely right about the 'whole mouth thing'!!!!!!! As a fellow ADD'er I know that my mouth is my best asset as well as my worst. Because of ADD I am witty & usually keep everyone @ work in stiches laughing so hard....(I work in an ICU..we need the humor to survive)....but there are times when I'm a little tired, maybe a little cranky & my mouth takes on a life of it's own. Censorship!!! Thats all I need...usually even if we think a doc is an idiot or if an order u receive is ludicrous...I'll handle it diplomacy & grace...however SOMETIMES I just blurt it out...I don't know how to explain it except one minute I was 'thinking' it (the evil thought)and the next minute it's out there!!!!!!

If I may be so presumptous as to offer advice..I would say WATCH WHAT U SAY....because that's what I do EVERYDAY.

I hope this helps.

I'm kinda getting into this whole 'participating' :wink2: !!!!!!!!!

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Bipley...u are absolutely right about the 'whole mouth thing'!!!!!!! As a fellow ADD'er I know that my mouth is my best asset as well as my worst. Because of ADD I am witty & usually keep everyone @ work in stiches laughing so hard....(I work in an ICU..we need the humor to survive)....but there are times when I'm a little tired, maybe a little cranky & my mouth takes on a life of it's own. Censorship!!! Thats all I need...usually even if we think a doc is an idiot or if an order u receive is ludicrous...I'll handle it diplomacy & grace...however SOMETIMES I just blurt it out...I don't know how to explain it except one minute I was 'thinking' it (the evil thought)and the next minute it's out there!!!!!!

If I may be so presumptous as to offer advice..I would say WATCH WHAT U SAY....because that's what I do EVERYDAY.

I hope this helps.

I'm kinda getting into this whole 'participating' :wink2: !!!!!!!!!

Yeah, I think it is some sort of impulse control issue. But it's always verbal.

I don't even think it first, I hear it along with everyone else as I'm blurting it out.

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Hello, All

Chris, how does dyslexia makes a nurse dangerous? Please explain to me? Because I am dyslexia and I am not dangerous at all. I do not dispense medications that does not have an order or have a med error that killed someone? SO explained your theory about dyslexics are dangerous as a nurse?

Chris, I am listening....

I see that this has already been addressed by others, but since you asked....

Dyslexia causes one to turn letters and numbers around, or jumble them in other ways. It makes life very difficult--street signs don't make sense, written directions of any sort become impossible to follow, and don't even try to read for enjoyment, it's incredibly hard work!

Many medications have spellings similar to other medications. Dyslexia jumbling the letters can cause one to see one med when in fact a different one was ordered.

Ditto on dosages. If you are moving digits around, especially if the "new" order of the digits includes moving a decimal point, then it will be impossible to know whether you have the right dosage. (For example, the order might be written 0.125 mg but one might see 21.50 or 1.250.)

None of this is purposeful, of course. Dyslexia is a disability: what you see is not what is there. It is not about giving meds without an order, or not giving meds if there is an order. It is about not getting the exact detail because you cannot be sure that what you are seeing is what is written.

Anyone can make this sort of mistake, that's why we countersign transcribed orders (assuming they are actually read before they are countersigned) and why we actually read back verbal and telephone orders. Anyone can make a mistake. For persons with dyslexia the probability is just way, way higher.

Med errors do not have to kill someone to be a bad thing. Med errors, all med errors, are bad in that the patient is being given a substance that either was not ordered, or in a dosage that was not ordered, essentially without the patient's consent. (No one says, "can I have your permission to give you something the doctor didn't order?" Of course not.) Viewed strictly, giving the wrong med or the wrong dosage could be considered assault on the patient.

And that's how dyslexia can make a nurse dangerous, IMHO.

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I recently worked with a nurse who had ADHD.

Some of her traits were that she didn't or couldn't listen to things we had told her in the past, and could repeat the same mistake, because she just didn't "listen". I know it wasn't intentional....it's just part of her disability.

She also was very hyper, and also tended to interrupt alot when other people were talking to her and trying to explain something to her....it was like her mind was going 90 to nothing and the other person in the conversation can't keep up.

She was also a "people pleaser". She was constantly trying to do things for other people. Get you things, bring you food to eat that she had cooked at home, etc. I had to tell her to stop bringing me stuff to eat.

I also had to tell her to stop trying to "wait" on me. I could wait on myself and get my own drinks/food, etc. This type of thing can also get to be annoying for other people. It is nice for a time or two that someone does something for you, but having a co-worker who is constantly trying to wait on you gets old after awhile.

She also had a trait of telling me what I should be eating or drinking and what kind of medicines I should or shouldn't take.

She was always trying to please me in her own way, but yet, things I did for myself, in her opinion, were not what I should be doing.

She also spent money on me......she likes to go to yard sales, etc, and would pick up things she thought I might like. Well, that was nice, for a time or two, and if it didn't cost much, I didn't mind accepting it, but I don't want anyone spending their hard earned money on me. I do have enough junk already that I need to get rid of now, and more junk is just that..... junk.

These were just some of her personality traits. And I didn't know she was ADHD until after she didn't work there anymore, so now I understand more about her and why she did or felt the need to do the things she did.

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....no offfense to my colleague LPN but...some of those traits have nothing to do with ADD/ADHD. As far as the hyperactivity & the interrupting goes...then yes those are classic ADD traits but...the people pleasing, bringing u food & 'junk' from yard sales...those have nothing to with ADD!!

I don't know why she did those things.....god bless her she sounds sweet:)

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....no offfense to my colleague LPN but...some of those traits have nothing to do with ADD/ADHD. As far as the hyperactivity & the interrupting goes...then yes those are classic ADD traits but...the people pleasing, bringing u food & 'junk' from yard sales...those have nothing to with ADD!!

I don't know why she did those things.....god bless her she sounds sweet:)

And no offense to you, sms, but I'm enclosing a link, if you will read it, please. I was researching on the traits of people with this disorder and this is where I got my information.

I will enclose the particular paragraph for your review, but please read the article.

The symptoms of ADD can be variable and situational, or constant. Some people with ADD can concentrate if they are interested or excited, while others have difficulty concentrating under any circumstances. Some avidly seek stimulation, while others avoid it. Some become oppositional, ill-behaved and, later, antisocial; others may become ardent people-pleasers. Some are outgoing, and other, withdrawn.

You will find this particular paragraph under the subtitle "Characteristics of Adults with ADD"

Full article is at the link below.

http://www.nmha.org/infoctr/factsheets/93.cfm

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Hello, Everyone

I think it is funny, how people can diagnosis others and know about a learning disability as they have it.

I believe that some people who are not learning disabled or physical disabled make a lot of assumptions. The assumptions are derived by ignorance....period.

I wish the nursing schools and other medical facilities would send everyone to sensitivity classes and a 100 hours of clinicals working with the learning and physical disabled individuals. Because it will eliminate the ignorance and myths about the functions and abilities of those individuals who are disabled.

I am dyslexic and I did not ever had a medication error as one poster claims that all dyslexic people would do. However, those who are not dyslexic made errors and I guess that is acceptable...NOT.

I choose to disagree respectively to those posters who states learning disables can function as a nurse.

Have a great evening, lol

Buttons

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Hello, Everyone

I think it is funny, how people can diagnosis others and know about a learning disability as they have it.

I believe that some people who are not learning disabled or physical disabled make a lot of assumptions. The assumptions are derived by ignorance....period.

I wish the nursing schools and other medical facilities would send everyone to sensitivity classes and a 100 hours of clinicals working with the learning and physical disabled individuals. Because it will eliminate the ignorance and myths about the functions and abilities of those individuals who are disabled.

I am dyslexic and I did not ever had a medication error as one poster claims that all dyslexic people would do. However, those who are not dyslexic made errors and I guess that is acceptable...NOT.

I choose to disagree respectively to those posters who states learning disables can function as a nurse.

Have a great evening, lol

Buttons

I hope you weren't referring to my post.

Just to be clear, IF you were, I didn't diagnose anyone nor make any assumptions about anyone.

The co-worker nurse that I mentioned in my post told others at my job that she had ADD/ADHD.

I searched for information on this disorder to try and understand it better.

I could see some of the characteristics listed on that web site in this nurse, but that by no means is a DIAGNOSIS. I don't diagnose. I'm not an MD.

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Specializes in Psych, M/S, Ortho, Float..

I haven't had the chance to read the whole thread, but I was Dx with ADD and a learning disability when I was 31. Just knowing was a relief. Meds were a life saver. Tried a few meds before I found the one for me. Tried Strattera but it made me too sleepy, no matter how low the dose and a headache that just wouldn't quit.

I love my Mannerix. Works for me. I don't have the hyperactivity so my doc has taken a different approach.

I'm now working psych and I love it. The pace on psych is just my speed.

Got to get to bed. I have to be at work early in the morning.

Will post more soon.

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...You're absolutely write LPN...however the article said "MAY become ardent people pleasers" So it's not a hard 7 fast rule.

I have ADD/ADHD. In fact I facilitate a diverse group of professionals who have ADD & none of them display THAT trait. Thats all I'm going to say on this subject.

The only reason I even wrote anything to begin with was to support my fellow nurse colleagues & ADD'ers NOT to get into a debate with you.

I wish u the best....let's agree to disagree.

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