What about neurodiversity among nurses? A cross-sectional exploration of work environment and health among nurses with ADHD and/or autism

BackgroundEmployees who have ADHD and/or autism frequently encounter difficulties in their workplace and with their health. Nevertheless, there is a dearth of research focusing on nurses who have ADHD and/or autism, even though the nursing profession presents various significant organizational and social challenges that may potentially have an impact on nurses with ADHD and/or autism.ObjectiveThe aim of the present study was to describe and examine associations between work environment, perceived health and satisfaction with given care among nurses who have ADHD and/or autism.MethodsRecruitment of participants took place through Swedish social media groups, and data collection was carried out via a web-based questionnaire. A total of 99 nurses who self-reported a diagnosis of ADHD and/or autism were included in the study. Descriptive statistics, binary correlations and linear regression analyses were conducted to analyze the data.ResultsThe nurses reported high quantitative demands at work, low sense of social community and managerial social support, low perceived health and high satisfaction with given care. Regarding associations between variables, nurses with more inattention (ADHD trait) reported higher quantitative demands at work, and nurses with more social anxiety (autistic trait) reported lower perceived health.ConclusionsAmong nurses with ADHD and/or autism, the organizational and social work environment and health are challenging, and these challenges seem to be partly connected to the ADHD and autistic traits. However, patient care was perceived to work well. More research is needed to evaluate how the perceived health of nurses with ADHD/autism can be improved.