Should I Become A Nurse

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Do u guys think i should become a nurse
im a junior in High school, and im a guy
I'm an aspie and have ADHD
but i dont have a lot of aspie Traits
I Am good at making new friends
I have alot of empathy and sympathy for others
I Cannot sit still at all
i like to talk a lot
i dont have an autistic speech Impairment

And Does UWindsor have a good nursing program, because im thinking of going there, anyways do you think i should become a nurse despite being an aspie

I'm a nurse and an Aspie. In fact, I've been a supervisor.

The pay is good but I do not like touching people, talking to people, hearing about people's problems, and not to mention I hate to look at, smell, or touch poop or blood. My stress levels would be thru the roof causing me untold amounts of damage to my heart and kidneys due to my extremely high blood pressure going up and down all day long.

If it is what you want to do then go for it. An Aspie thinks differently you might come up with a different approach to help someone that might be better than the traditional method. Your talkative nature might raise a lonely sick person's spirits helping him/her to recover faster. Your inability to sit still might keep you on your toes so you will be checking up on your patients more often compared to the NT nurses. Who knows your autism might become an asset making you a better nurse.

If you can do it, I think you should try. Nursing can be really rewarding, or so I've heard. It's hard work, though!

I'm trying to get into medical school right now because I want to be a doctor. It's a bit out of my comfort zone, but I think I could really help people and be useful that way. There are other Aspie doctors out there, too, so that is a comfort.

I think I might rather be a janitor. I'm not totally sure. At least janitors don't have to talk to people to do their job.

If that's what you want, go for it!

The job market and pay for nurses is great. If you can handle stress well, I would say go for it.

Personally, I'm in social services and have to handle crises and emotionally-draining situations, like you'd have to do in nursing. I think my AS traits actually help me to stay logical and objective in these sorts of situations. I do tend to get overwhelmed by the stress sometimes and find I need to take good care of myself, in order to avoid burnout, though. Just like with any NT, we have strengths and weaknesses and have to find ways to strike a balance. I wouldn't tell you not to pursue nursing just because of an AS diagnosis.

Is there any way you could shadow a nurse or volunteer at a hospital or home health agency, so you could get a better sense if you'd like it before you start studying towards it? I'd recommend that, if at all possible.

I'm an Aspie and a nursing student, and I think if you like to help people and you are comfortable talking to new people, then it would be a good job to consider. It is a lot of work and you do have to talk to a new patient every week while you're in your clinicals. Being a nurse also requires you to memorize a lot of skills, as well as facts.

If you want to do it, go for it!
Could you contact your local hospital to ask for work experience? That's what I'm doing, and what my friend did, and they loved it! That way, you can work in that sort of environment, see how you like it, and talk to plenty of nurses to ask about their job.

I'm an Aspie and a Radiation Therapist (I treat cancer patients with ionizing radiation). The program was good for me because I wanted to help people with cancer, there is alot of math involved (which I am really good at) as well as physics. Being a Radiation Therapist, I get to communicate with my patients on a one on one basis and since most therapy courses are about 30 treatments, I get to know my patients. I get to move around alot (walking in and out of the treatment room and positioning the patient as well as escorting patients from and to the waiting room) so I don't ever have to sit still for long periods. I usually work with one other Radiation Therapist, so there are NO crowds! I graduated from college in 1997, and I'm still going strong. So I say, go for it!! !

I am in my 20th year of nursing. I took my Indiana licensure boards 20 years ago this month. I worked 10 years in the operating room and now 8 years in a surgical ICU. My work is very technical. Our hospital is the most computerized in the greater Indianapolis area. I don't talk very much and rarely engage in small talk with my coworkers. I work the night shift so my patients are usually sleeping or they are on ventilators. I have no speech deficits.
I am good to have around in a crisis such as a code because I'm the only one who is level headed in all the chaos.
Nursing is a rewarding career and I recommend it highly to those who are interested. However, male nurses do better in settings such as critical care, ER, OR, and orthopedic units. That is not universally true but is my observation.

I'm a fairly new nurse currently on a cardiac intensive care step-down (have an interview next week to see if I can transfer to a cardiothoracic ICU) and it is rewarding but challenging. It is only (very) recently that I've even considered that I might be an Aspergian, but coming to this realization allows things in the past to make much more sense and I can now be more forgiving with myself in the future, especially when it comes to nursing.

I understand now why I get so peeved when I'm not able to complete my charting in as much intricate detail as I'd like...why I'm a good listener (sometimes I get distracted thinking about how I should orient my body or my face, but I am generally listening), but have difficulty empathizing with others when they are going through experiences that I have never gone through. I do not like to be touched unless it is by my partner or for an explicit purpose such as for a medical procedure (I never instigate hugs, except with my partner, and often hesitate when someone tries to give me one). The only bodily fluid that really bothers me is stool. That is up there with one of the worst parts of my job. I also hate it when other nurses chew gum. I am very sensitive to mouth sounds (misophonic?) and hearing people chewing and snapping gum instigates violent urges in me. If one sits next to me in a satellite station, I wait 2 minutes, then get up and leave.

I have become socially adept enough since high school to function very highly (sometimes oddly in more interpersonal situations) in a professional environment, but as soon as my 12 hours are up, it's as if the scaffolding is torn away- I try to get out of there as quick as possible; I have turned down rides from co-workers, making thin excuses, angry at myself for seeing the confused, slightly hurt faces I've caused when really, I think they just wanted to be nice.

I also have to be careful with my tics to hide them (cracking my right knuckles/wrist/shoulder and now neck repetitively especially when I'm stressed, which at work, is basically all the time)

I work nights, and I relish the times when my patients are finally so exhausted, they just sleep, especially when I'm titrating potent medications and getting their blood pressure every 3 minutes...playing with numbers, calm in a situation that most nurses would be very stressed out about. However, if I'm interrupted by the needs (especially emotional) of another patient during these times, I get very distressed.

Patients generally like me because I listen to them (I'm more than happy to not have to really contribute a whole lot to the conversation) and answer their call lights quickly when I'm able to. I like getting "psychiatric" patients with cardiac problems though...I instantly feel more comfortable and can converse much more easily with people with schizophrenia than with "normal" people and they usually like and trust me more too.

I really hope I get to go to the ICU...fewer patients in an assignment, almost all of them sedated and intubated, highly technical.

I realized halfway through nursing school that I probably would have been more satisfied and less stressed being a biochemist or a veterinarian (these thoughts have especially made a renaissance lately), but would have lost my full scholarship if I had switched. However, I'm making the best of it and seeking to get into intensive care nursing to see how it suits me before I up and call it quits

I am also a nursing student who recently realized I almost certainly have Aspergers, as it explains...everything, basically. I am so so so glad to find this thread! I have looked on nursing forums for threads about nurses with ASD/AS but have never been able to find any.

Now about the poster's post:

[Moved from General Autism Discussion to Work and finding a Job]