What happened?
This past year, Grace hasn’t been feeling herself – she has poor concentration sometimes and has had trouble sleeping. After speaking with her GP, she has realised that she is perimenopausal.
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Grace’s sleep is often disturbed and she finds it more difficult to recover after a night shift than before the menopause.
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This means she sometimes finds it difficult to concentrate, especially when learning something new.
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One day, Grace was working through her ward management tasks on the new IT system. She was struggling to work out the new system to do what she needed to do.
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Farhan came along and asked if she needed help. He showed her what she needed to do and she was able to complete the task.
And then?
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Grace was telling her colleague, Sally, in a meeting about her struggle with the new IT system.
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Sally said she was also going through the menopause. She had experienced hot flushes while at work which often interrupted the flow of what she was doing.
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The two women felt better after sharing their experiences. Sally recommended that Grace talk to her GP about HRT (hormone replacement therapy).The two women felt better after sharing their experiences. Sally recommended that Grace talk to her GP about HRT (hormone replacement therapy).
How to improve
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Women need to feel comfortable sharing conversations about the menopause with their colleagues.
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All staff, men and women, need to be familiar with symptoms of menopause.
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Employers need to offer women support for managing symptoms of menopause.