Visiting nurses and re- certification

Essentially, visiting nurses--- those who only show- up for re- certification are a nuisance. They are bossy and they intrude unwanted. In general, from what I have seen, they know very little. Oh yes, I know they have passed the required courses, but this does not translate into helpful behavior. Their judgments and opinions seem case studies in fallacy, jumping to conclusions, and relying inappropriately upon intuition, They cannot explain themselves because their judgments lack any deep basis. Yet they are arrogant and pushy. Moreover, they are capable of disrupting a home for days by their brazen stupidity. 


 The most recent visit of a nurse- supervisor on Wednesday had harmful consequences on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. The smooth functioning of our household was turned upside down by a pushy, not especially clever or articulate woman. She created havoc and chaos where previously there was order. And whay's worst of all, the harmful consequences of her ignorant assertiveness lingered for days after her visit. 

 Is there no Hippocratic oath for nurses??!!



Note for a Nurse Supervisor


I am also going to warn you of two related dangers.


Don’t you dare think that you „know“ us because you have gone through a list of questions generated by someone else, prying into our lives like the secret police in a totalitarian state.


You know how we answered those questions (quesitons you did not create) but you do not know us.


I realize that as a citizen of the United States you are at a serious disadvantage.  Like the other visiting nursees who have disrupted life in this house, you speak an extremely limited version of Informal American.  (I say this to you as an experienced teacher of English who has heard English spoken outside of the United States.)


Your language (informal or colloquial American) is not rich in levels of formality or devices for expressing distance and respect.  Essentially, there is (in practice) only one level of colloquial American.
Therefore some of what I say will be hard for you (or any other monolingual speaker of American) to understand.


However, you should not be fooled into thinking that you understand or know anything significant about me, or either of my parents.


To suppose you know us in any deep sense would be arrogance and hubris.


Consequently, regarding many matters extreme modesty is required.  


I can put the point differently:  your knowledge of me and my parents is at a very superficial level. I fear that, here too, as an American, you are disadvantaged.  American commercial culture encourages brief but superficial friendships.  Nonetheless, you have spent very little time with us, and always only in a very artificial and strained atmosphere.  I do attempt the fiction that you are our guest; in truth, you are not.
We would prefer to live without you or your visits.
It is only your threats that make me pretend a friendlier relationship.  (Perhaps I, too, am hemmed in by the limitations of the American language.)


And that word „threat“ is accurate. So, don’t think you are going to be loved by people who only see you when you are threatening to take from us the very small bit of help that the wise and corrupt managers of Medicare see fit to drip out to us.   (You might want to think about whether threats are not bad psychology anyway----even from a merely managerial point of view......they certainly won’t win you any friends.)