OH SNAP...2 days in a row!

That's right, a whole two (count them - 2!) days in a row of blogging. That's pretty darn good for me. Today's topic? Nada. Just saying hi. So...hi. Ok ok, I'll say something else. I'm having a bit of an inner battle with myself today (totally winning btw). Madi has a nurse assigned to her at school that comes to our house each morning, checks all of Madi's equipment, is supposed to run through a checklist, gets on the bus with her, goes to school with her, does all specialized care (10am straight catheter, 9:30 & 1230 g-tube feedings, all suctioning/trach care, etc.) & then rides home with her, gives me a report of the day & leaves until the next morning. Now I like her & so does Madi. She has a fun energy about her...HOWEVER I find her to be a little unprofessional when she comes over to the house. As I'm getting to know her more, I'm starting to feel slightly uncomfortable with her & I'm not quite sure how to deal with it. I'm guessing you want examples as to why I'm feeling that way, right? Well, here you go: Example #1: I'm a nice person (for the most part) & offer coffee to people when they come over to my house at the buttcrack of dawn (alright, it's 8am but still...I need coffee by then because I'm still a zombie). It's what you do. The 1st couple of mornings, I offered coffee to this nurse & the other one training her. One morning a couple days into it, I was in a rush & actually had plans to go out for coffee so I didn't make any for myself. I was zooming around the house & didn't even think to ask if they wanted it especially since they both walked in holding coffee cups. The nurse comes in, sits down, holds her cup out to me & says "I'll take what I had yesterday." Uhm, what? Did I look like a waitress? Don't you find that a little rude? She didn't even ask...she just kind of assumed & ordered. Granted I told her if she ever needed coffee, I always had more than enough & I really don't mind sharing but it was the delivery of the "request" that I didn't appreciate. Saying, "Hey, would you mind if I had a cup of coffee?" or maybe a "Have any coffee this morning?" would've gone over way better. I think the other nurse caught my face when she did this & had a talk with her about it because she hasn't "requested" like that again but now that the training nurse isn't there anymore, she still asks for coffee almost everyday in an expectant type of way. It gave me a weird vibe about her. I'm trying to not hold it against her because really? She's making sure my daughter is cared for daily at school & a cup of coffee daily is a small price to pay for that kind of care. Example #2: The nurse has expressed a dislike for the teacher & the way she runs the class. By "expressed a dislike", I mean she's smack talking. She refers to the teacher as "crazy if she thinks I'm one of her aides in the class...I ain't there for her especially if her greedy butt doesn't want to watch Madi for me for 2 seconds so I can go to the bathroom". She's having issues integrating into the classroom she has to be in everyday with other kids & adults. She's right saying she's not an aide. She's Madi's one-on-one school nurse & she's there to assist her all day & only her. She could actually get into trouble doing any procedures on any other kid in class. I'm glad she brought this to my attention but the way she's going about it & the attitude I see her expressing leads me to believe that the reason she is having a hard time getting along with the teacher is because she's got that bitter attitude. What really bugs me about this is that she comes to me like I need to do something about it. I can talk to the teacher about the things the nurse is bringing to my attention like that fact that the teacher seems to be afraid to take care of Madison by herself without a nurse present (Have I mentioned that Madi is the very first kid at her school to EVER have a trach or have the need for oxygen? Yeah...we are essentially training them for future students) BUT to ask me to tell the teacher that the nurse is not an aide & she doesn't like it? Yeah...no...she needs to have that discussion with her or her supervisor instead. Telling me that Madi isn't getting the proper education & asking me to deal with that is one thing but asking me to be the monkey in the middle about her issues with the teacher is not cool. I'm Madi's advocate, not hers...isn't that kind of like her dilemma with the teacher asking her to an aide? Example #3: So remember how I said that the nurse has a checklist she is supposed to go through when she comes over? I said supposed to because Madi isn't allowed to go to school without having a certain number of supplies (suction catheters, a FULL oxygen tank, gloves, a back up trach, etc.) Well this nurse has been showing up progressively later in the mornings & on a couple of different mornings she's shown up at the same time as the bus & doesn't go through the checklist. She just assumes everything is there. Now I appreciate the fact that she thinks I'm smart enough to have everything but to be honest, I can't say for sure that I am. There are evenings that I don't get to go through Madi's backpack/notes/equipment until the next morning right before the nurse gets there & I could actually forget something. The school nurse AT the school is a stickler & would definitely be ticked off if she knew all of the equipment Madi is supposed to have with her at all times wasn't accounted for...the nurses could actually get in major trouble for not having those supplies especially if an emergency happened. When I actually said something to the nurse one morning about making sure to check the checklist, she got all offended & said "I can't help if the bus (the one she takes to my house daily) is late & I can't go through all of this in time. You're supposed to make sure everything is there. I'll check it after I get to school." This is when my feelings towards her started to change drastically. She's new to this district/state & doesn't have the knowledge of the system that I do. I know that she is responsible for checking everything off every.single.day. Not after she gets to school...before she even gets on the bus. I mean, what's the point in that? How could you restock supplies needed from home at school? I actually had to call the school nurse for that to have her explain it to the nurse. She did it for a few days & now is back to glancing without actually checking thoroughly...like today when she came to my house, set her things down, went to the use the bathroom, came out 20 minutes later right before the school bus got there, glanced at the bags quickly & then ran out the door. The only other complaint I have is that she doesn't pick up after herself when she's there. This is actually become my biggest pet peeve since we started having home health nurses in the house on a regular basis. When did people stop being taught to leave other people's houses in the condition it was when you arrived in it or better? I was always taught that if you took something into someone else's house that could cause a mess, you should make sure to dispose of it properly & if you are offered a drink, snack, etc. that you make sure the dishes are taken to the sink instead of just leaving it on a table or something. You don't leave your trash on a couch, on the floor, in a bed (I'm constantly finding the used saline bullets, piece of foil from the lubrication for Madi's catheters IN her bed - sometimes scratching or cutting her), on a table, etc. It's disrespectful. It's poor manners. It's extremely frustrating to not only be responsible for picking up after your own family but also other adults that should know better. Ugh. Wow, apparently I needed to vent a bit. Ooops. So you're probably reading this thinking, "dude, call the school & get her ass fired!" I thought about that. I keep thinking about that. She's definitely irritated me a bit but maybe talking to her to attempt to get things straightened out might be a better course of action. Why? Because what if they can't hire another nurse right away? What if the next nurse is someone Madi doesn't like & she starts to shut down at school again? What is the next nurse is completely incompetent? I know that's a lot of what if's but I've learned I have to pick & choose my battles wisely. This nurse is someone Madi likes & does respond to...shouldn't that be enough to outweigh the negative things I've talked about? Shouldn't I be satisfied with that fact that she makes sure that Madison's needs are tended to all day? What do you think? What would you do if you were in my situation?