My experience as in #autistic person as a student nurse & RN

A thread!

{Highlights my OWN experiences after diagnosis.}

CW: Swearing, disability discrimination, ED

1. In my early 30’s, I finally had a diagnosis. This gave me something to work with. It answered a LOT of questions for me. It made my awkwardness easier to understand.

Unfortunately, once this was known, it made both Nursing school and my job a bit more challenging.

2. As a student Nurse

Most of my teachers were great. I was even given extra time for tests.

My Nursing instructors were NOT so kind. I did things a bit differently and they didn’t like that.

I had a lot of medical knowledge behind me. Using this knowledge was frowned upon.

3. I had instructors who intentionally failed me during my clinicals because “we can’t have an #autistic student nurse representing our institution.”

Yes. This was ACTUALLY said to me.

I wasn’t as cute and perky as my classmates. I was short. I was awkward. I was, well...me.

4. “You aren’t like the other girls”

Well, no fucking shit! Took them long enough to figure that out.

The doctors loved working with me.
Except one. Apparently saying “hello” to this woman deeply offended her.

{Seriously! You can’t make this shit up!}

5. I also comforted a mom after her delivery of twins and said her babies were “beautiful.”

The instructor called the Dean to have me reprimanded for saying this.

Shortly after I was working as a Nurse, I ran into this bitch in OB with her new students. Boy, talk about awkward

6. She told this new mom “you did so well, your baby girl is beautiful!”

She hadn’t noticed me yet...so I quickly went and told my charge Nurse about her and what she did to me.

She walked back over with me and asked her and her students to leave.

I got a dirty look for that

7. I heard other students make the same remarks. They never got into trouble. They were praised for being lovely students.

I was literally called “fat and ugly” by my Nursing skills instructor. I briefly had trouble again from having eating disorders.

She STILL called me fat.

8. I just couldn’t win!

“Why didn’t you just finish medicine? You would have been a better doctor.”

Had it not been for the bureaucracy, trust me, I would have.

I also worked as a CNA.
Patients loved me.
The nurses I worked with loved me!
I was proficient. I was kind.

9. All in all, I ended up using our State Uni system to finish with two weeks of intense “on-site” with one of their instructors.

I wish I’d done that to begin with.
I’d clearly suffered enough.

I took both exams. Practical nurse and RN. Passed BOTH with flying colors.

10. My career as a Nurse was rather short lived.

My brother and son needed more of my time. I couldn’t be a good caregiver at home and while working.

I decided to take early “retirement.”
I let my licensure expire.

I loved being a Nurse. It was very hard for me to quit.

11. It’s hard to believe that I was mistreated as a student nurse...but I was. It was bullshit.

So I couldn’t always sit in class. I preferred to work alone and learn alone. I worked with groups when I had to. My “attendance” was poor.
But my scores were top of the class.

12. Do I recommend #autistic people who want to be nurses continue forward?

Hell yeah.

Maybe if more of us come forward, then they won’t be able to single people out like they did with me.

I try to let it go, but I still have hurt feelings and anger.