Dyspraxia and Clinical Practice
Dyspraxia (also called developmental coordination disorder) is a neurodivergent cognitive profile characterised by differences in motor planning, sequencing, and coordination. For nurses, this might mean that fine motor tasks, procedural timing, or spatial awareness feel less automatic than for peers. This is a question of how the work is designed, and when systems stop demanding constant manual precision, dyspraxic nurses are able to contribute their clinical strengths without carrying that difficulty on their own.
Strengths in clinical practice
Research on neurodiversity at work suggests that dyspraxic nurses often bring clinical strengths. Some nurses with dyspraxia describe strong problem-solving skills, creative thinking, and comfort working with abstract ideas, and these are the very traits that support clinical reasoning, care planning and innovation. Dyspraxic nurses have described their empathy as pronounced, grounded in lived experience of working within systems not designed for the way their brain works (Murray et al., 2026). This empathy translates into patient-centred care and strong peer support.
Structural accommodations that work
For dyspraxic nurses, the barrier is one of workplace design, and the evidence locates the difficulty in the environment itself (Lindsay et al., 2023). Under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) (DDA), employers must make reasonable adjustments (changes to support an employee with disability) unless doing so would cause unjustifiable hardship. For dyspraxic nurses, effective adjustments include: double-checking systems built into routine as a standard structural feature of safe practice; access to written protocols and checklists for complex procedures; reduced distractions in clinical areas where fine motor work is needed; and mentorship from experienced staff who model procedure sequences. Some nurses also benefit from adaptive strategies like pre-rehearsing a procedure, slowing pace on high-risk tasks, or working alongside a colleague during early shifts in a new role. These adjustments reduce the burden of adaptation that is structurally misplaced. Research on dyslexic nurses (a related neurodivergent cognitive profile) shows that practical, embedded adjustments improve safety and job satisfaction. The same principles apply across neurocognitive profiles including dyspraxia.
Neurodivergent nurses bring real strengths to clinical practice. Workplaces that design for neurodiversity (through built-in checking, written guidance, and mentorship) benefit both the nurse and the patients in their care.
References
Lindsay, S., Fuentes, K., Ragunathan, S., Lamaj, L., & Dyson, J. (2023). Ableism within health care professions: a systematic review of the experiences and impact of discrimination against health care providers with disabilities. Disability and Rehabilitation, 45(17), 2715–2731.
Murray, R., Staniforth, C. E., & Eddy, L. H. (2026). A qualitative exploration of the lived experience of adults with Developmental Coordination Disorder. PLoS One, 21(5), e0350273.
Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth). legislation.gov.au
This post contains general information only and does not constitute legal, medical, or professional advice. Information is accurate to the best of the author’s knowledge at the time of publication. For advice specific to your situation, please consult an appropriately qualified professional.