Travel Nurse Aim: Has Anyone Claimed the Body Yet?

It's strange how an old memory will just pop into my head without anything triggering it (or at least nothing I can recall). Just out of the blue. Pop, there's an old memory. It's even more strange when it's a memory of something that happened years ago that didn't seem very significant even at the time it happened. I’m one of those people who has difficulty brushing this type of memory aside without some sort of analysis as to why it came into my head in the first place. So here’s what I’ve come up with.

First, the Memory
Tonight I was sitting here minding my own business when a crotchety old patient I attended several years ago popped into my mind. I was working as a travel nurse at a rehabilitation clinic at the time. The patient had apparently spent most of his life alienating all of his family members and would-be friends. It took him mere hours before most of the nurses in the rehab hated his guts. Every word that came out of his mouth was rude, hateful or derogatory. Even still, it was surprising that not a single person visited him the entire two months he was in the rehab hospital even though it was common knowledge that he had a large family living nearby.

One day while taking report I was told that the patient had died several days earlier. His body was bagged and placed in the temporary holding morgue where it remained unclaimed. His family was notified of his death, but none of them would agree to dispose of the body. I caught myself asking at the beginning of every shift “Has anyone claimed the body yet?” I wondered what kind of a family could be that cold and heartless. Surely that decrepit old man couldn’t have been so bad that no one cared what happened to his remains.

Finally after almost two weeks, the hospital was able to get an acquaintance to claim it. The situation made me wonder just how bad this guy had to have acted during his life to make what seemed to be the entire world turn against him.

Now the Analysis
This is the best I can come up with as to why this memory popped into my head. It might be a reminder that as a nurse I only get a snapshot of what a patient is truly like. Most of my patients are not used to spending time in a hospital. Some get scared when they are normally brave. Some get shy when they are normally outgoing. Some get angry when they are normally calm. A reminder not to judge people by how they act in the hospital (even though the crotchety old man in the hospital was apparently a crotchety old man most of his life).

Or…it could just mean that if I treat my family like crap, my body will be stuffed in a black bag, stuck in a refrigerator and left unclaimed when I die. Sometimes the simplest explanation is the best.

Travel Nurse Aim's Advice

I received the following e-mail from the husband of prospective travel nurse:

"HI Aim,

I enjoyed reading your blog. I stumbled across it because my wife is a nurse and she is thinking about traveling, so I was poking around the internet looking for info on it. I'm wondering what to do with myself as she is working. We both love traveling and adventure, and I have many skills, but my question to you is, does your family travel with you? Does your husband work? I'm just trying to "feel" out this lifestyle. Any of your insight would be very much appreciated!

Thanks!

[Name Redacted] "

My Advice
Dear Reader,

First, let me thank you for reading my blog and hope you find the information and stories interesting. Second, yes my family travels with me. My husband has a job where most of his work is done over the internet and he does not have to go into an office every day. You might be surprised at how many of those types of jobs are available. He is a corporate attorney who spends much of his time reviewing contracts, drafting legal opinions and doing other lawyer stuff that doesn't require face to face contact with clients. He is also a small business owner and entrepreneur.

Thanks,

Travel Nurse Aim

Honest, the Patient Was Dead When I Started My Shift

Yesterday's shift started with something straight out of CSI. I had barely finished taking report when a page came over the PA system "CRT 235". For those non-medicals reading this post, CRT 235 means anyone who is not already working on someone "GET IN HERE NOW!" I happened to have been working on someone at the time.

Nurses, doctors, RT's, LPN's, CNA's, a guy pushing a crash cart and even one of the janitors came racing down the hall past me and into the coding patient's room. I finished working on my patient and then ran to assist with the code. When I reached the room there must have been a dozen people working around the patient. Several nurses were taking turns leaning over the bed doing chest compressions and another was bagging the patient. I looked over and saw a nursing student in the corner with his eyes bugging out like that Guinea Pig, Bugsy, on Bedtime Stories. All I could think was "Welcome to the world of nursing!"

Once my initial adrenaline rush had subsided I looked down at the patient and noticed that she was already blue. The technical term is cyanotic. I also noticed that her arms and hands had already begun to stiffen. A sure sign that rigor mortis was setting in. But if that was the case, then the patient had to have been dead for awhile. Why wait so long to call in the code? duh...duh...duh...dum

The thought crossed my mind "What must that nursing student be thinking?" One week he's sitting in class learning about nursing. The next week he is finding out where he will be doing his clinical rotation. The next he is standing in a room full of people banging on a woman who has probably been dead for at least an hour and thinking "what kind of sick twisted people think this is a good idea for a job?"

When all of the commotion subsided and I was back on my rotation, I overheard the Charge Nurse say the patient had likely been dead for a couple of hours and that the morning shift nurse had called in the code. I also heard her say the night shift nurse had put on the patient's chart that the patient had been visited at the end of her shift. Either that is the fastest rigor mortis in the history of the world, or the night shift nurse is "mistaken" about when the patient was last visited, or the night shift nurse visited the patient and discovered she was dead but didn't bother telling anyone. Either way, tomorrow should be interesting.

Sleep well tonight my student nurse friend. Tomorrow will bring a new trauma all its own.

Travel Nurse Aim Ranked Among Top 100 Blogs for Nursing Students

There is nothing like a shout out from fellow nurses to make you feel appreciated. I would like to thank RNCentral.com for ranking Travel Nurse Aim No. 78 among its "100 Best Blogs for Nursing Students." Check out the complete list of 100.

Also, if you haven't already seen them, take a look at these checklists before signing with an agency:

(1) Contract Items to consider;

(2) Housing Stipends;

(3) Benefits and Insurance; and

(4) Workplace Facilities.

Travel Nurse Aim's Reader Seeks Tax Advice

I recently received an e-mail from a travel nurse reader with the following income tax question:

"Amy,

I have been a travel nurse in CA for 6 years. I am currently in the Sacramento area and have been at the same hospital since 01/08. Now, at eleven months I take 30 days off, then return.The hospital I work at continues to renew my contract and my employer continues to give me the full stipend in my check every week. How long can I remain in the same situation and stay within requirements set by the IRS? I have read the IRS publications but can not find anything to address my situation.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,

[Name Redacted]"

Can Anyone Answer this Question?
Dear Reader,

I do not know the answer to your question as I have never been a travel nurse at the same location for more than 9 months. Can anyone answer the reader's question? If so, please post the answer as a comment to this post or e-mail me and I will pass it on to the reader.

Thanks,

Travel Nurse Aim