Mild Cognitive Decline or Physical Limitations: What’s a Nurse to Do?
Noticing small changes in what’s possible.
I worked for many years in infection prevention and control, and loved it. Still do. But I loved bedside work too, and it was always in the back of my mind that I might one day return to staff work. That is, until I took care of a family member during the last year of his life.
While I think I provided him with reasonably good care—let’s not get into the emotional connection that made me a less objective caregiver than were his fantastic CNAs—there was no fooling myself any longer. After years away from the bedside, my assessment skills have slipped. I’m not used to working while wearing glasses (without which I can’t read labels or check for reddened skin or cloudy urine). And arthritis in my wrists meant that those bed-to-walker transfers were not optimally safe.
What about multitasking, 12-hour shifts?
My difficulty in providing physical care made me wonder whether my cognitive skills, too, might not be up to managing the pace and pressure of floor work today. I may still be good at supporting and teaching, but can I multitask through 12 hours of nonstop problem-solving and decision-making?
In “When Is It Time to Leave Nursing?” in this month’s AJN, nurse Janet […]
