ADHD medication suggestions for new grad with a messy brain?

[eventualnurse]

Hi all,

I am a new grad and struggling. I started on a busy tele floor but made a med error, had a patient fall, was "about 10x too slow," and so was transferred to a lower acuity floor. The new unit has given me time more than usual to orient but I'm still not able to get things done efficiently and remember all the details (and even big, obvious things sometimes). I'm newly diagnosed and reading about ADHD and nurses with ADHD has brought some relief that there is hope and I'm not just oddly incapable of doing this job (I did really well in school and know that I'm a strong critical thinker if not panicked). But, I'm so close to too little too late, at some point very soon they will have to stop extending my orientation.

So, for the last 8 months I've been on bupropion but I've already maxed out the dosage, and clearly, something is not working.

Does anyone have any suggestions for medications? I'm inattentive type, less hyperactive. I struggle with forgetfulness (like... remember you have that patient? I'll forget to check my brain sheet on a patient if they're easy and undemanding.), organization (despite "refining" my brain sheet after almost every shift for the last few months), prioritizing and sorting out the mess of things to be done, going into a patient's room and being completely focused on them and forgetting that I have a million other things to do, switching back and forth between big picture (what's going on with the patient, potential complications, etc.) and the little details and tasks.

Bupropion helped with motivation and to relieve some of the panic/block I feel when my brain becomes a tangled knot of too many things to do, but I'm wondering what other people's experiences on different meds are, along with potential downsides/side effects? What has helped?

Thanks so much for reading and sharing.