 Grandmother Fran Murt, 67 from Liverpool, recognised her own dementia symptoms four years ago after decades of working as a nurse. Here, she shares her story with Metro. I loved my nurses uniform – it was part of my identity and I always felt so proud to put on my smart navy dress because it represented all those years of hard work and dedication. From the day I first ever wore my uniform as a trainee aged 17 with starched cuffs and a frilly hat to the last shift I ever worked – that sense of pride and achievement never left me. Prior I had worked across different medical wards, including cardiology. I'd revived patients successfully before, so a refresher course in how to use a defibrillator was simply routine. I watched my friends practice first, using a medical dummy on a hospital bed, and the electronic paddles that were such a familiar part of our job. This was equipment I'd worked with all my life but as I picked up the defibrillator, I just couldn't remember how to put it into sequence. I felt so ashamed and embarrassed and I was really upset. My colleague said 'Fran are you ok?' and I said 'No I don't understand why I can't do this.' Fran Murt, 67 from Liverpool, recognised her symptoms four years ago (Picture: Fran Murt) It wasn't just the defibrillator. I went to take a patient's blood pressure and I couldn't remember which way the cuff went on. I couldn't work the weighing scales either – and yet I had worked in the past on the bariatric clinic. I went to see my manager and she said: 'You've had a bad day,' but as a nurse, I recognised my own symptoms. I'd worked with dementia patients before. I stopped work, went to the GP, and he did a memory test, which I failed. I was referred to a mental health team who were lovely, and I went for scans before my diagnosis. If anything it was a relief. It explained why I had seemingly changed so much. I had always been so organis){kind=link}
NEWS… BUT NOT AS YOU KNOW IT
Grandmother Fran Murt, 67 from Liverpool, recognised her own dementia symptoms four years ago after decades of working as a nurse.
Here, she shares her story with Metro.
I loved my nurses uniform – it was part of my identity and I always felt so proud to put on my smart navy dress because it represented all those years of hard work and dedication.
From the day I first ever wore my uniform as a trainee aged 17 with starched cuffs and a frilly hat to the last shift I ever worked – that sense of pride and achievement never left me.