Old skills in new situations

You know why I like to spend time at work? Beyond the sheer pleasure of being with people and the endless puzzles and knots that people present, there is the reassuring experience of being on solid ground with myself. I know what I'm doing, I know what there is to do, there seems to be a reasonable match between these two sets, and so "I'm okay."
Which helps me understand the distress of a person -- like my wife -- who has been thrust into the opposite case. She doesn't exactly know what she is doing, and she doesn't exactly know what there is to do. All the challenges and questions that come up evade any automatic answer, because she is simply not allowed anymore to do anything she normally does.
Can she get out of her maternity bedrest to attend a meeting at school on the very important topic of X? No, she cannot. Her boss gets wind of her intent to attend, and calls her up to say, You can't come to school, it's not allowed, you're on medical leave, we can't tolerate the liability issues.
Can she keep working on reports while at home? No, she cannot. They want her to turn in her raw scores and hand over her laptop. They are saying, We'll take it from here.
Which leaves her in the lurch with herself.