Teasaidh

I have been a nurse for 3.5 years. Two months ago, I was diagnosed with Aspergers (at the age of 30). It has been a huge relief and also another huge source of stress as I begin adjusting my understanding of myself and learn to deal with my diagnosis. I am starting therapy next week. Nursing has been both rewarding and miserable - sometimes in the same night. Finding out I have AS is helping me to understand a lot of the problems I had throughout school and while working. It is an extremely demanding profession, even more so for someone with AS. If I had known about my AS before now, I probably would not have pursued nursing because it is very overwhelming and stressful for me. Despite my experience, I still struggle with relatively elementary nursing tasks, and it is frustrating to see younger nurses pass me by. I was passed over for a promotion because of my lack of social skills, and the fact is that I will never really be able to advance in nursing beyond the bedside because of these limitations. Even after a good night, I am completely drained and exhausted. After working a couple of days in a row, I just want to curl up in my bed and shut everyone out. I don't fit in or get along well with most of my co-workers despite various attempts to interact with them. I am completely my BSN (it is required by my current employer) and then I am going to work towards a new degree so I can get a job that will better suit my strengths and weaknesses. I'm not saying, "don't go into nursing," but I wish I had realized how difficult it was going to be, how it is a constant fight and struggle. In this profession, nothing has come easily to me and everything overwhelms me. Figure out where your strengths lie and how much stress you can deal with. If possible, see if you can follow a nurse around for a few shifts to get an idea of what it is like.

I am currently fighting with this system. Aside from having to enter over 200 credit hours by hand (because I refuse to pay them $150 when they already have my transcripts), they have listed one of my transcripts as being from the wrong school. I emailed them and never received a reply, so I called this morning and was given the run-around and told it will be fixed in three days. In the meantime, I had to pay for and submit my application because the deadline is tomorrow (oh yeah, she tried to argue with me about the date and tell me that my application isn't due until the 15th!). I have already submitted a complaint with the BBB and intend to call back and demand a higher authority if it is not fixed. Why do all of their call staff sound like they were dropped on their heads as children?? I am intending to submit a complaint to my school as well. Since this system is the only way they will accept applications, I think they need to understand what a horrible company this is and that they would be better off without them.