Client is grieving. How to be tactful?

[Helen_, RN]

Dear all,

I currently work as a private RN, specializing in palliative care.

On Tue (06/01/15), a patient I had nursed for three months passed away from end-stage ca. Her daughter forgot to pay me two days' worth of salary. Seeing that she was grieving for her mother, I left her house without asking for payment.

I felt it just wasn't appropriate to ask for money in light of the situation.

Her daughter and I got along well. She always made payment on time. This time round was the only exception.

Should I continue waiting until she remembers? She has my contact number, and, vice versa.

I'm not sure how to go about doing this in a sensitive manner. Should I wait a week or two? How long is too long?

Any sound advise would be appreciated.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Just send an invoice in the mail. You can find many templates on-line. That will de-personalize it. If you send a sympathy card send that at a different time

[Nashvillejeanne]

Totaly agree with the above post :)

[Helen_, RN]

I had in mind to send an invoice, as advised, next Monday. Fortunately, the daughter sent me an sms today, apologizing for forgetting to pay. I replied and said it was ok, given her circumstances, then we arranged to make an online funds transfer.

Thanks for the advise. Fortunately, it all worked out well in the end.

[TammyG]

It was polite and kind of you not to ask for pay at the time of death. But you are absolutely entitled to pay, and the client's family probably feels awful about forgetting to pay you. I am sure they are very grateful for your services.