Dyspraxia and nursing?

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Hi all,

I'm going to start my nursing training in September and I've just been diagnosed with dyspraxia. This means I have problems with my hand-eye co-ordination, doing things quickly, spatial awareness, short-term memory and sense of direction, amongst other things.

Unfortunately, the educational psychologist who diagnosed me said "how on earth do you expect to be a nurse with all those problems?!", which has obviously knocked me back quite a bit. I spoke to the student support at my university, who say that they've never had a student with dyspraxia before, so they don't really know either.

Does anyone here have any experience of dyspraxia, and can offer some insight? I appreciate that I'll probably never be able to work in areas that deal with emergencies and need quick action, like A&E or intensive care, but does it mean I have to rule out nursing completely?

Thank you!

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Specializes in Home Care, Peds, Public Health, DD Health.

Flowers in the window,

I started nursing school with a mild disability but they did try to kick me out with a "dont worry we will refund your tuition" and the Dean really got me when she said " how on earth do you think you can be a nurse?" WHAT? oh my goodness there are tons of things you can do as a nurse! and I have met nurses with disabilities, when my child was a patient in the hospital I was so inspired by meeting nurses that would disclose their disabilities to me. And I want to tell you that I graduated with my Associates Degree and I won the award for BEST clinical performance! so much for not being able to do the job! Now I dont your abilities, YOU need to ask yourself are you SAFE with yourself and the patients? and then find a school that will work with you for clinical. Then I say to go for it, because once you can get through clinical, then you can get a job that works for you whatever your disability is. They rewrote the handbook after me but then I came to find out that they have a student that was in a serious motorcycle accident and has balance issues and they are letting her complete the program, and it was the facility that questioned her safety not the dean, I was really surprised, perhaps I paved the way for her.

You may need to bring home kits and practice procedures or just do it without the tools so that you can at least know that you are able to it. And I will say that there are plenty of things I have done very slowly in the last year, so that I was very sure I did it correctly. Quicky doesnt mean better. Also, I take a medication for neuropathy, it interferes with my word recall a bit, in fact the medication is Topomax and online I have seen it called stupimax. It can interfere with short term memory. I carry a pad with me and I write down things so I dont forget them- this is an add coping mechanism- lol, I dont usually have much trouble with that. But exacty words can escape me some times.

If you believe you can do this that will open doors for you. Find a program that will support you. We had a girl with turners syndrome who had a learning disability , math issues and some have motor coordination as well and she got through the LPN part just fine.

good luck to you, let us know what happens,

anangelsmommy

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Thank you so much for your input, anangelsmommy! I really appreciate it :heartbeat

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It's all about hard work...you might have to change the way you study, among other things, but it's def. doable!!! I have a learning disability and actually have a bachelor's degree in Speech because I was so interested in the brain and why some people can learn better than others. But it's all about how you handle yourself, if you know you can't do certain skills, you might have to practice harder or study harder, longer, or more often. Listen to yourself and your body. Maybe you should seek a second-opinion or go for therapy. There are many techinques/strategies that can be learned for you to be successful!!! Good luck, and don't let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do!!! Go for it!

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Where are you planning on doing your training. If the UK (going by the UK flag) you may need to check with both the university and the NMC regarding any requirements needed to be met.

You may not have an issue but check it out first. I know a deaf student recently qualified in the UK

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@ Wishfulthinking - Thank you for the encouragement!

@ Silverdragon - Yes, I am in the UK. I'm going to have a meeting and assessment with the nursing branch of my uni's student support, so I'll ask them about the requirements. Thanks for the suggestion.

I suppose it's difficult to tell how much it will affect me in a real nursing setting, without trying it out, so hopefully they will have a better idea.

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

Things may be hard at the beginning but you can get yourself into a routine with everything like ready, working on the ward etc.

Best of luck and let us know how it goes. Not sure if you found the UK forum but may want to post any UK type questions there :)

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Hi I'm was diagnosed at a young age with dyspraxia. I was i denial and told no one not even my closes friends.i applied on cao and didn't disclose it I felt ashamed. However I accidentally let it slip during a placement that I was struggling in. I was belittled and made out to be a retard and I was advised that I wasn't suitable for nursing and do an easier course and college advised the same.To be honest I wish I never let it slip because the college have been trying to get me to leave since.i am now in my third year and passed all my placements so far still struggling but I'm determined to graduate with a degree and prove them wrong

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It's hard to know exactly how your dyspraxia will effect your work as a nurse until you actually DO a nurse's work. The human brain is a resilient creature, always learning and changing, growing new connections with every new experience. You may even have little undiscovered 'talents' or abilities that will kick in as some folks with disabilities have.

If you WANT to be a nurse, go for it. The beauty (ha, if you could call it that :D ) of nursing is that there are SO many 'ways' of working as a nurse. Perhaps ICU or Emergency nursing won't be ideal for you -- but I don't have dyspraxia and they aren't 'ideal' for me either! We're all differing in our gifts, abilities and limitations. Besides, who was it that said 'genius is 5% talent and 95% hard work"? Best of luck to you!

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