{"id":1471,"date":"2020-09-16T14:58:00","date_gmt":"2020-09-16T12:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/?p=1471"},"modified":"2020-09-16T20:40:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-16T18:40:29","slug":"dont-discount-covid-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/dont-discount-covid-brain\/","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Discount Covid Brain"},"content":{"rendered":"

After a brief hiatus from writing \u2013 I am back!\u00a0 While I planned a short time away for personal reasons, my extended leave was not expected.\u00a0 This novel Covid-19 virus decided to attack the world and, unfortunately, made it into our home.\u00a0 I must clarify that I am only a presumptive case of Covid-19.\u00a0 I\u2019m a nurse practitioner with the knowledge and resources to manage my symptoms safely at home, and I\u2019m a bit stubborn and didn\u2019t want to leave the comfort of my house to get tested.\u00a0 That being said, I had all the classic symptoms:\u00a0 sore throat, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle pain, dry\/hacking cough, and a SEVERE headache.\u00a0 I am a migraine sufferer and have never endured anything close to the severity of this headache.\u00a0 Worse yet, no medication could take the pain away.\u00a0 It\u2019s been just over twelve weeks since I became ill.\u00a0 Fortunately, I\u2019ve recovered from most of the symptoms but I still suffer from intermittent headaches, easily fatigued, and a heightened sense of anxiety\/agitation.\u00a0 All of these symptoms are consistent with brain trauma, referred to as Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI).<\/p>\n

So I\u2019m In the 30%\"\"<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As we all know, Covid-19 is a new virus that is sending the research world into a high-pressure, time-sensitive environment. Governments are demanding data, new treatment modalities, and a vaccine for the deadly virus. As brains of the deceased are studied, and data is compiled, researchers can give us more information about the virus.\u00a0 An estimated 30% of Covid-19 patients develop neurological symptoms.\u00a0Initially, it was thought that the virus could not cross the blood-brain barrier meaning that it didn\u2019t directly affect the brain.\u00a0 As more data is received, however, it was discovered that it can and does cross into the brain.\u00a0 This shouldn\u2019t be a surprise as many other respiratory viruses\u00a0 (influenza, measles, RSV) create havoc in the brain.<\/p>\n

As research continues and more answers are found, there are many questions that still need to be answered.\u00a0 Of special interest to me is how long will this \u201cCovid Brain\u201d last?\u00a0I\u2019m talking about more than the headache and fatigue here.\u00a0 I\u2019m talking about the loss of short-term memory, inability to focus, intermittent confusion, and days like yesterday that I just can\u2019t focus on anything.\u00a0 My husband asked me what I was thinking, and my reply was \u201cnothing\u201d.\u00a0 And I meant it.\u00a0 There was absolutely nothing going on upstairs.\u00a0 That\u2019s frightening for an educated, intelligent person to experience.<\/p>\n

So Why Does This Matter?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As the world begins to re-open businesses after this virus has devastated lives and the economy, they will struggle with getting the business back on its feet.\u00a0 This may mean downsizing (even if temporarily), restructuring, and for some, closing their doors forever.\u00a0 But what about those staff that were infected with Covid-19?\u00a0 Many of them will suffer residual effects from the brain trauma.<\/p>\n

A healing brain is a delicate organ.\u00a0 In most traumatic brain injury cases, the healing is slow, and the person may not get back to the full function they had before the injury.\u00a0Unfortunately, there isn\u2019t enough evidence with Covid-19 yet to fully understand the residual effects on the infected brain.\u00a0 Fortunately, there are ways to promote healing and support your staff as they recover.\u00a0Always keep in mind how frustrating this is for the person struggling to get their brain back.<\/p>\n

Brainline.org provides some excellent tips to help your staff transition back into their position while still encouraging a healing environment.<\/p>\n

Visie <\/strong>\u2013 Lighting is important \u2013 change the fluorescent lights to high intensity, white lights, and increase natural lighting.\u00a0 Provide an anti-glare computer screen and large print on reading materials.<\/p>\n

Focus<\/strong>\u2013 Concentration is going to be a constant struggle.\u00a0 To help with this, provide a quiet work area with little distraction (a private office or work enclosure if possible).\u00a0 Allow for white noise.\u00a0 Break down large jobs into smaller, manageable tasks.\u00a0 If necessary, restructure their role to include only the essential functions.<\/p>\n

Fatigue <\/strong>\u2013 Maintaining stamina throughout the day is a challenge.\u00a0 Offering flexible schedules, longer or more frequent breaks, and part-time work schedules are all viable options.\u00a0 Schedule more challenging tasks at the beginning of the day, leaving more mundane tasks for the end of the day when fatigue is more likely.\u00a0 Most importantly, encourage your employee to acknowledge their fatigue and rest when they are to that point, even if it means going home.<\/p>\n

Stress<\/strong>\u2013 Handling stressful situations and managing emotions is more difficult while the brain is recovering.\u00a0Acknowledging this includes sensitivity training for other staff and providing a positive work environment.\u00a0Encourage the employee to access any available Employee Assistance Programs and coaching services.<\/p>\n

Awareness & Acknowledgement<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As a leader, it is important that you are aware of these symptoms and remember that not everyone that had Covid-19 was tested and confirmed.\u00a0You may have staff that had\/have the symptoms that aren\u2019t confirmed with testing but may still suffer the long-term complications of the disease.\u00a0 Acknowledging their struggles will go a long way to support them during their recovery.\u00a0Hopefully, the recovery time will be a matter of weeks, but for some, it is turning into months.\u00a0 This can be frustrating to management and the staff member.\u00a0Patience and understanding will be key.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After a brief hiatus from writing \u2013 I am back!\u00a0 While I planned a short time away for personal reasons, my extended leave was not expected.\u00a0 This novel Covid-19 virus decided to attack the world and, unfortunately, made it into our home.\u00a0 I must clarify that I am only a presumptive case of Covid-19.\u00a0 I\u2019m […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1473,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,24,17],"tags":[16,18],"class_list":["post-1471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-leadership","category-loyalty","category-team-building","tag-employee-engagement","tag-leadership"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/wp-content\/uploads\/brain.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1471"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1480,"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1471\/revisions\/1480"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1473"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oteos.nl\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}