It seems like we started out with such great nurses. The first nurse we had we loved. After her we had crazy nurse. She was only with us for a couple of weeks. After crazy nurse we had 2 nurses that were great. We had these 2 for a while and life was good. Tim and I totally trusted them with Casey. They got things done without me having to stand over them. They were wonderful. I miss them so much! After they left we had a nurse for a little bit that we liked. She had to go back to her main job as a school nurse after just a few weeks with us. It seems like since she left it has just been one thing after another.
We interviewed/met a handful of nurses. ALL of them seemed awful. I picked the best of them and we really tried to make it work. I posted a while back that on her 3rd day she pulled Casey’s gtube out. She had some days where things went really well. Some days she just SUCKED!!! She was kind of lazy. Some (many) days she just preferred to sit and watch TV and not really do much at all with Casey. Casey would get worked up and she didn’t know how to calm her down. Tim and I were always having to jump in. We never got to the point where we felt she was able to fully take care of Casey. If I had to run errands it was always when Tim was home, working, but home just in case. And, most of these times I would get a call or text from Tim while I was out asking me to hurry home. I was always stressed out about it.
We were still searching for another nurse so I kept her around since I have to have help getting to and from appointments. Other than that, she really did not help that much. I kept hoping they would find a wonderful nurse to fill the rest of our hours. Then if we hit it off with him/her we could soon transition over to them as a primary full time nurse. They hardly sent anyone out at all. We finally had one that I did like. She disappeared though. The service said that they would call her and she just stopped returning calls. It was kind of weird. Other than her they have not sent anyone else out. They keep saying they are looking, but no one has come.
About 2-3 weeks ago our current nurse gave her notice. I figured that for sure would get them to start sending more people out. Still nothing! Her last day is Friday and I have not met a single nurse. I usually like to meet a couple and pick the one that Casey seems most compatible with. We have ZERO to chose from. I am really stressed out about this.
If that’s not bad enough, it gets worse. Last week our current nurse was out sick most of the week. She came back this week coughing and sounds awful. I kept asking if she was okay and she was like “I’m not sick, just have a cough”. However, she did not go to a doctor. I really was not comfortable with her suctioning and being around Casey all day coughing all the time. When she would start coughing she would have to run to the bathroom all the time too (leaving Casey unattended). We decided to just go ahead and let her go. I really don’t want her getting Casey sick. We can cancel most of what Casey has out of the house this week. We can arrange it so that Tim can take us on his lunch break for anything we can’t get out of.
I just want the a nurse that Casey likes. Someone that knows how to keep her safe, healthy, calm, happy, and entertained. Someone that Tim and I feel comfortable with. Someone that we can rely on. I want our previous nurse back! Life was so much less stressful when we had a good nurse and a routine for Casey. I really hope we can get back there soon.
Hopefully next week we can make some progress on meeting and maybe even picking a new nurse. Until then, we will just figure it out.
