ADHD and autism are common and increasing neurodevelopmental disorders in the world and also occur among nurses. However, almost nothing is known about nurses with these diagnoses. To promote high-quality care provision and well-being in the nursing workforce, it is important to discover more about these nurses. Therefore, in the present study, we aimed to describe how nurses with ADHD and/or autism experience their working life. The study was descriptive in design. Nurses were invited via Swedish Facebook groups targeting nurses. Semi-structured individual interviews were conducted with 17 nurses with ADHD and/or autism, online or by telephone. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. One overarching theme and seven subthemes emerged from the analysis. The theme "feeling like an untapped resource" reflected the subthemes: 1) Being passionate about one's job, 2) having strengths and talents to use in working life, 3) a stressful and disturbing work environment inhibits personal strengths, 4) managers show goodwill but lack knowledge and resources, 5) feeling appreciated but socially different among colleagues, 6) using a variety of strategies to facilitate working life and 7) toward an uncertain future. Nurses with ADHD and/or autism experience having abilities and talents that are useful in the nursing profession. However, they feel that the physical and organizational working conditions and lack of managerial support entail challenges that prevent them from making optimal use of their strengths.

Purpose: Long-term sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs) is an increasing problem, especially among women. To help these women return to work (RTW) sustainably, we need to know more about their own beliefs about RTW. One applicable theory is the theory of planned behaviour (TPB). Thus, the present study aimed to describe, based on the TPB, women's beliefs about RTW during or after long-term sick leave for a CMD. Methods: A qualitative approach was used. Twenty women were included during a long-term sick leave period due to a CMD. A deductive content analysis was conducted using predetermined factors from the TPB: behavioural beliefs (advantages–disadvantages of RTW), normative beliefs (supporters and non-supporters of RTW), and control beliefs (facilitators of—barriers to RTW). Results: The women believed that RTW would give them meaning and balance in life, but also that it would be challenging to maintain balance after RTW. They believed they had several supporters of RTW, but that the support was sometimes perceived as stressful rather than encouraging. Furthermore, individual adaptation and high demands were the most mentioned facilitator and barrier, respectively. Workplace conditions and personal strategies were thought to be important aspects. Conclusions: By using the TPB, the present study was able to offer new findings on women’s beliefs about RTW after long-term sick leave for a CMD. Based on the findings, we suggest that various RTW stakeholders should focus on striving to provide the tasks and work pace women need so they can maintain their professional competence and sense of meaning.

Background: Long-term sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs) is a great burden in society today, especially among women. A strong intention to return to work (RTW) as well as symptom relief may facilitate RTW in this group. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding what constitutes a strong intention. The Theory of Planned Behaviour is well-suited to identifying underlying beliefs about intentions to perform a behaviour. By including psychological well-being and perceived health, a more comprehensive picture of determinants of RTW intention might be achieved. Thus, the aim of the present study was to identify associations between RTW beliefs, psychological well-being, perceived health and RTW intentions among women on long-term sick leave due to CMDs, and to do so based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Methods: The study was cross-sectional. Between October 2019 and January 2020, 282 women on long-term sick leave (> 2 months) due to CMDs were included in the study. The questionnaires for data collection were: “RTW Beliefs Questionnaire”, the “General Health Questionnaire -12” and the “EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale”. Standard multiple regression analysis was performed both with and without adjustment for potential confounders. Results: The results showed that a more positive attitude towards RTW, stronger social pressure to RTW, higher perceived control over RTW and higher psychological well-being were associated with stronger RTW intention. The adjusted analysis eliminated the importance of psychological well-being for RTW intention, but showed that women who reported that their employer had taken actions to facilitate their RTW had stronger RTW intention. Conclusion: The RTW beliefs, derived from the Theory of Planned Behaviour, were all important for a strong RTW intention, while psychological well-being and perceived health showed weaker associations. Furthermore, having an employer that take actions for facilitating RTW was associated with stronger RTW intentions. Though some caution is warranted regarding the representativeness of the sample, the results do improve our understanding of some important determinants of RTW intention among women on long-term sick leave for CMDs.

Introduction and objective: Interest in developing an understanding of “autistic flourishing” is steadily increasing in research and autistic communities. Flourishing is a multidimensional construct explained somewhat by positive emotion, but mostly by good psychological and social functioning. Autistic people process information and stimuli differently from neurotypical people, so it may be reasonable to assume that their definition of flourishing and the factors that influence it may differ from those of neurotypical people. Exploring flourishing from autistic women’s perspectives is essential, as they have been historically overlooked in autism research, despite differing from autistic men in presentation and facing higher mental health risks.Methods: This autistic-led, partly collective, autoethnographic study was conducted within the context of a broader project exploring the concept of autistic flourishing. Here, we employ a two-phased phenomenological approach, drawing on both autistic and neurotypical frames of analyses. In the first phase, autistic women draw on their lived experiences in a collective autoethnography, including both focus groups and collective writing, to shape the concept of flourishing and its indicators. These insights were further developed by neurotypical authors, who compare to neurotypical experiences and conceptualizations of flourishing.Results: Two themes and twelve subthemes were identified. The first theme, “Living with a neurodivergent bodymind,” presents how autistic women define and experience flourishing. The second theme, “Strategies for autistic flourishing,” highlights actions autistic women take to achieve or maintain flourishing.Discussion and conclusion: Through our autistic-led approach drawing on neurodiverse frames of analysis, our work presents a first initial investigation of autistic flourishing among women. Our findings suggest qualitative differences in autistic derived definitions of flourishing and its indicators compared to those of neurotypicals, emphasizing the importance of developing an autistic-driven understanding of flourishing.

Common mental disorders are associated with long‐term sick leave, especially among women. There is a lack of theory‐based research regarding the impact of personal factors on return to work and psychological well‐being. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine whether return‐to‐work beliefs and perceived health were predictors of return to work and psychological well‐being among women during or after long‐term sick leave for common mental disorders, based on the Theory of Planned Behaviour. This was a prospective cohort study with a 1‐year follow‐up. At baseline, women (n = 282) had been on full‐ or part‐time sick leave for common mental disorders for 2–24 months. Data were collected in October 2019–January 2020 and October 2020–January 2021 in Sweden. The Social Insurance Agency identified the women at baseline. The Return‐To‐Work Beliefs Questionnaire, EuroQol Visual Analogue Scale and General Health Questionnaire‐12 were used. Multiple logistic and linear regression analyses were conducted. The women were divided into two groups: full‐time sick leave or part‐time sick leave at baseline. The results showed that stronger return‐to‐work intention significantly predicted return to work among women on full‐time sick leave at baseline. No significant predictors of return to work were found among women on part‐time sick leave at baseline. Psychological well‐being was predicted by stronger social pressure to return to work (full‐time group) and a more positive attitude toward returning to work and better perceived health (part‐time group). We concluded that the Theory of Planned Behaviour can be useful for understanding return to work among women on full‐time sick leave, and what underlies psychological well‐being in both groups. However, return to work and psychological well‐being were predicted by different factors, indicating that a multifactorial approach should be used in supporting women to return to work after long‐term sick leave for common mental disorders.

Background: Employees 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. Objective: The 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. Methods: Recruitment 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. Results: The 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. Conclusions: Among 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.