Hi all! I had a stroke in November, and ended up going back to work in January. I’m a nurse, and I worked in a pediatric office. Because I’m also in school, I decided to switch jobs to an inpatient hospital role, to help me more with school. Right now, I’m feeling discouraged, since I’m not catching on as fast as I hoped. Any words of encouragement?
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Keep going! It will sink in if you keep trying. I left my career of 20 years when I had my stroke and moved in to a whole new career. It takes time to learn new things, we might just take a little longer. You’ve got this!
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Hi @Shaunji & welcome to the community.
You returned to work very soon after your stroke & during the first few months of your return your brain will still have been doing its repair work. It’s not surprising it is taking longer for things to sink in. The good news is this should improve over time. A new job & school stuff is a lot to deal with in one go for anyone never mind after a stroke.
When I returned to woek I had an adjustment in place that allowed me extra time to read and digest things. Perhaps that will help.
Keep going you will get there.
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Hello @Shaunji and welcome the community.
Normally, I would say this is a matter of keep going and you’ll get there and that is pretty much what I believe @Bigmugoftea and @Mrs5K have said. So certainly, I would echo that.
But then I look a bit deeper in your message and I am not so sure it is as straightforward as that. Let me try to explain. Getting back to work from a stroke can be tricky and a number of factors can determine how successful or otherwise the return to work would be and this includes the timing of going back, the rate at which you go back e.g. build up starting part-time and working towards full time and having an understanding employer and supportive employer and work colleagues.
Going back to your old job can be difficult enough, but as I understand it you are changing jobs and starting a different role. I don’t know how different this new role is to your new role and whether the employer/management is the same and how supportive they are. I also don’t know if this new role is something you really want to do as a career development opportunity or if it is a convenience thing. If it is a career development move, I can imagine would be motivated and excited about the opportunity, whereas if it is a convenience move, perhaps you may find it less interesting and maybe even a chore and something you can’t motivate your self for. I wonder if the reason you are not catching on as fast as you had hoped is because this is not really the job you want to do but you are having to do it as it is convenient for you and you need to do it to meet your other commitments.
All I can say is that clearly, the fact you have been offered the job suggests the employer is happy to employ you in that role and you must have impressed them at interview. The real question now might be if this is the move you want to make or whether you would prefer to be doing your regular job in the paediatric office.
Switching jobs can be stressful and I wonder if this might be your real issue here.
The words of encouragement I can offer are “Where there is a will, there is a way” and so if you really would like to do this job and there is a will, then you will find a way. It might not be easy, but you can do it.
I wish you all the best.
Namaste|
