I have a daughter named Mary who is a nurse, but this is about another nurse who came from  ComplexCare to check me out to see if I, a 94 year-old woman, was adequately cared for.   Mary had an appointment and was very polite and professional.  After asking if she could call me Dorothy, she got out her scale and her computer and set about her assessment.  Once weighed she asked about family history and personal history,  when I last saw a doctor, what medications I took.  She listened to my heart and lungs, took my blood pressure sitting and standing, put on an oximeter and measured pulse and oxygen.  She looked in my mouth, nose, eyes and ears.  She poked me here and there to see if it hurt and asked about aches and pains.  She inquired about my breathing, my GI tract, my urinary tract, my bowels.  She asked me to walk and we talked about my balance problem, my cane and my walker. Did I clean my own house, wash my own clothes, do my own shopping?   She got out her rubber hammer and tested all my reflexes, tested strength of arms, legs, tested skin for paresthesias.  She said three words and asked me to remember them for later.  She asked me to draw a clock and show 10 minutes  after 11 on it.  Since I had no recent eye exam, she recommended one.

All in all, I thought it was an excellent assessment by a very competent and lovely woman.  When I made the appointment I was not sure I wanted anyone looking into my private life but this kind of intrusion seemed to me reasonable and well-intended.  After all, we don’t want our old folks falling helpless through the cracks.  She said she would report to my internist if she found a worrisome situation.