A Mistress A Day Keeps the Doctor Away

I'm no Dr. Laura, but I can only guess what she would have to say about a male patient I had to take care of the other day. He had injured his back and right leg after falling off a latter at work.

His wife had slept on the pull out bed in his hospital room the night before my shift and was giving him a sponge bath when I first visited his room. Later she spoon fed him breakfast and lunch even though he was able to feed himself. After spending the entire day waiting on him I heard her say she needed to go home to fix dinner for the kids. I can only assume she meant THEIR kids. Although appearances can often be misleading, she seemed to really love her husband and when she left I thought to myself "what a wonderful relationship they have."

About thirty minutes after his wife left I overheard him on the phone telling someone "She left already. Come on up." As I walked out of his room ten minutes later I passed a skanky dressed woman walking in. On my next visit to the room the woman was sitting on the bed next to my patient with her hand in his lap. The man didn't even seem a little embarassed by the fact that I knew his little secret.

Maybe his wife knows about his mistress. Although I usually try not to make judment calls about my patients, it sure was hard to look at him the same way after finding out about the other woman.

As my shift came to an end the two asked me if I wanted to use some tickets they no longer needed to a show at the Civic Center that night. I took the tickets, but I still don't approve of their relationship.

How I Select A Travel Nursing Assignment

This post is in response to a number of e-mails I have received this week asking me about how I select my travel nursing assignments.

Let me start by saying I am currently registered with more than a dozen travel nursing agencies although I have used only two or three of them during the last year or so. I keep my paperwork up to date with all of the agencies. This allows me to receive e-mails from all of the agencies detailing the available travel nursing assignments . I have previously posted one of the e-mails I received last summer with a listing of assignments on it here. That e-mail is typical of all of the agencies.

Select Your Location First
The first thing I do is select where I want to take an assignment. Being registered with so many travel nursing agencies increases the likelihood of finding an assignment in any location I choose. So far the only difficulty I have had in finding an assignment has been when I have wanted to work in smaller towns with smaller facilities. I have never had a problem finding assignments in cities with more than 30,000 people.

My husband and I have used a number of methods to choose a location. We have picked some locations after visiting them on vacation (Knoxville, TN), some because we just wanted to see what it would be like to live there (Bellingham, WA), some to be near relatives for the holidays (Jacksonville, FL) and some for the money (Orange County, CA). It has been my experience that anywhere you choose there will be at least one medical facility that hires travel nurses.

If you are not sure you will like the location you have chosen ask your agency for a shorter 3-4 week assignment. It is my understanding that some agencies will work with you on the length of the assignment. Most assignments I have taken have been 6 weeks or longer.

Select An Agency
You do not have to limit yourself to one agency. I have come up with several checklists I use when registering with an agency. The checklists deal with Contract Terms, Housing Stipends, Medical Facilities, Benefits and Insurance.

I hope this e-mail has answered the e-mails I have received this week.

First Field Trip of the Year and No Emergencies

I've always thought it was interesting how states appropriately spend so much time making sure we keep our seatbelts on and our kids buckled, but allow 60 students and 5 adults to cram three people to a seat on a little yellow bus with no seatbelts and limited supervision. But that is not the subject of this post.

Yesterday was a lot of fun. I took a day off work and traveled with my oldest son and two 5th Grade classes to the Little Grand Canyon on a geology field trip. Don't worry. I didn't make him sit with me on the way up. I really don't think he would have minded, but I remember when I was that age what it was like to have a parent chaperone school activities.

I rode on the bus on the way up because one of the kids has juvenile onset diabetes and another severe ADD. The child with diabetes had to have a specific low calorie meal and diet drinks and had to check his blood sugar periodically. The child with ADD needed medication. Nothing a concerned mom could not handle but the school wanted someone with medical training. I also brought along inhalers and epi pens just in case. We didn't need them.

The Canyon was beautiful. There were a ton of dogwoods, chestnut oaks, hickory, wax myrtle and magnolia trees. Their leaves were turning red with the change of seasons and the acorns on the chestnut oaks were huge. The soil was a combination of red Georgia clay, sand and lava rock. I still don't know where the lava rock came from as Georgia is not really known for its volcanic activity.

One of the kids found a perfectly intact arrowhead made out of Kaolin (I think that is how it is spelled) which is the main ingredient in Kaopectate and cat litter. I wonder if the Native Americans of yesteryear knew about its medicinal properties. They probably did. In any case, the State Park would not let the kid take the arrowhead out of the park. Instead, they took a picture of the kid holding the arrowhead and they are going to mount the arrowhead on a plaque with his picture and put it on the wall at the visitors center. The arrowhead was apparently a rare find given the park ranger's reaction to it.

Well, it is back to work today. My shift starts at 2:00 p.m.