Male Asperger's Syndrome Nurse

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As a high school student, I'm still trying to figure out what I want to do with my life. After finding out that software engineering was simply too stressful a professional path for me, I did some volunteer work at the local hospital. I liked the work, it kept me busy and I could focus on the tasks I was assigned. I have a few connections with nurses in the industry, and it seems like a pretty decent job. However, the odds are stacked against me it seems:
a) I have AS
b) I am a male
c) My parents have raised me for a good academic career as opposed to a hands-on career like nursing, I have a feeling they will think I'm 'too smart' for something like nursing.

Am I looking into the wrong profession? Any suggestions on how I can go from a programmer to a nurse? It seems like the weirdest juxtaposition - I know, but if I have to debug one more line of code, I swear I'll flip my desk.

Stay as far away from nursing as possible. You'll be giving yourself nothing more than pain, misery & suffering - in that order. AS people should do better in solitary jobs like computer programming and the like. Not only is nursing depressing but it's filled with administrators & bosses who expect the unexpected out of you. They'll drain you dry, suck the marrow out of your bones, and cast you aside like a lifeless corpse.

See my thread about Does anyone work in health care. Nursing is not for me. I do medical transcription now and that is almost too much for me. You have probably noticed that hospitals are noisy, stressful, chaotic places. I do not think nursing is a good choice because of the sensory overload and people will talk about you behind your back usually about your AS traits.

Explodius, I used to work in a hospital as an assistant to nurses and I've worked in other areas of care. I really enjoyed it, but as redrobin62 and BobinPgh point out it can be very stressful.

Here is my experience of the odds you mention:

Having AS

Most of the job of nursing is communication. This is something I struggled with a lot at first, but a lot of the communication is scripted so it is something you can learn. However, some of the communication cannot be learnt. For example, people are extremely unpredictable in how they deal with the death of a relative, so there is no script that you can safely follow. But, you can learn how to listen and that's usually the safest thing to do when someone is upset, angry, or confused.

Your own experience of AS will determine how suitable you are for the other challenges of nursing. For example, some hospital departments are extremely busy. There is a lot of noise, it can get crowded, and an emergency can happen. I think that some people with AS can deal with these problems better than most NT's. I found emergencies very easy to deal with because I could stay calm and focused. But, I never learnt how to cope well with everyday conflicting demands on my attention.

Being male

This is an asset. There are not enough male nurses, so you will be in demand. It will also act as an excuse for some difficulties you might experience (e.g. communication or multi-tasking). Everywhere I worked I was told that they were glad that they had a male nursing assistant.

Academic career

Nursing is the best of both worlds. You do a very practical job where you can immediately see the benefit of what you're doing (unlike academic jobs where the benefit is not always obvious). You also have to continuously learn new things, and the more academic you are the better you will be at your job. In fact, the reason I never became a nurse is because of the academic demands.

Some other things to consider

These are just a random assortment of thoughts I have on this.

There are a lot of bodily fluids to deal with. If you think you would be disgusted by wiping a stranger's bottom, stay away from nursing.

You can avoid a lot of the noise and stress of hospital nursing by being a district nurse, visiting people's homes. There are other less stressful jobs that are also academic and hands-on: occupational therapist; physiotherapist; phlebotomist; radiographer; technician. There is also mental health nursing which can be in the community or in a unit.

You can try working as a nursing assistant before studying nursing.

If you want a more academic career, you could study nursing and then take further study to become a nurse researcher.

Part of studying nursing is hands-on-training. In each placement you would be under the supervision of a mentor who will be responsible for teaching you skills and helping you learn about that area of nursing. Mentors vary in how good they are, but it is reassuring to know that you are always supported.

Having AS doesn't mean you would be inferior as a nurse. I worked with some NT nurses that had no patience, didn't listen to patients, and coped badly with emergencies. If you've ever been through the mental health system as a service user you'll know that nurses can be awful, amazing, or anything in-between.

I hope this is useful.

I work as a registered nurse in an emergency department and have been there for the last two years. I work in several different roles, either in our acute care section, our clinic based section, as a member of our resuscitation team or as resuscitation team leader. Soon I will be receiving training for triage as well.

For me the biggest challenge is the social aspect. Working efficiently requires teamwork and good communication. Poor communication can lead to inefficiency and adverse outcomes for patients. I initially had trouble being assertive in times where it was necessary, fearing being perceived as rude. I also had difficulty delegating tasks, and dealing with difficult to work with staff. Other issues included multitasking and time management.

However over time I pushed past these barriers. Make no mistake, I still have social issues at work. But I am far more assertive, able to lead a coordinated team, and am far more comfortable with delegating now without having to micromanage or unrealistically thinking I can do everything myself.

I do find the job both stressful and satisfying. I can look back on the last year and detail all the additional skills and knowledge I've picked up. I particularly like the close working relationships between nurses and doctors compared to other areas, and the license ED nurses have to initiate interventions compared to nurses working in other areas.

Is a career in nursing ideal for you? That depends on you more than having a diagnosis of AS or not. Realistically there are few jobs that aren't menial tasks that require little social interaction. Certain fields in nursing attract higher proportions of male nurses, ED and ICU being among them. The view that nursing is unacademic however, is misinformed. Though it may vary depending on the field, there is a lot of opportunity for career advancement in nursing which demands fairly rigorous academic standards. My advice is that if you want to pursue a career in nursing then to start as either an assistant or enrolled nurse at a hospital with good educator support.