What about neurodiversity among nurses? A cross-sectional exploration of work environment and health among nurses with ADHD and/or autism.
Åsa Hedlund, Malin Jordal
PMID 39973707WHAT IT FOUND
Nurses with ADHD or autism reported high workload and poor health, with more than half having taken long-term sick leave for mental illness.
However, they remained highly satisfied with the care they provided to patients. Inattention was linked to feeling more work demands, regardless of diagnosis.
Key findings
01More than half of the nurses (52.5%) had experienced long-term sick leave due to mental illness, and 62.6% intended to leave their workplace within five years.
02Nurses reported high satisfaction with the care they provided (mean 4.8 on a 6-point scale), despite reporting relatively low perceived health (mean 2.2 on a 4-point scale).
03Higher levels of inattention were significantly associated with higher perceived quantitative demands at work, an association that persisted after controlling for diagnosis.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The sample was small (n=99) and recruited via convenience sampling from Facebook groups, which limits generalizability and may introduce selection bias toward those seeking peer support. The group with autism only was very small (n=9), making it difficult to draw specific conclusions about nurses with autism alone. All data were self-reported, and some nurses were on sick leave during data collection, potentially introducing recall bias. Nurses with ADHD-only scored above the screening threshold for autism, raising questions about the validity of the screening tools in this population or the distinctness of the traits. Gender was not explicitly queried, though the vast majority of participants appeared to be women based on optional comments. The cross-sectional design cannot establish causality between traits and work environment perceptions.
Declared interests
The authors received no financial support and declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high satisfaction with patient care as evidence that the workplace is supportive for these nurses. The study found that while nurses felt good about their clinical work, they experienced high demands, low social support, and significant mental health issues leading to sick leave and intent to leave the job.