Do you bag your bodies naked?

[mama_d]

I had a death the other night, and found out that our new policy to save $ on linens is to bag the bodies naked. I flat out refused.

I know she was dead, so it shouldn't really matter whether she had a gown on or not, but it just seemed indecent to me. There was no way I was putting her into a plastic bag without being covered.

I was just curios if other facilities do this...and does it bother most people or am I just being weird?

[beth66335, BSN, RN]

We have a kit that includes a yellow paper gown like the ones we wear in an isolation patients room. We put that on the body and tag their toe, and their bag of belongings if no one takes them, then we put them in the body bag and tie the final tag to the zipper. If they have had a PICC line or chest tubes removed we place a thick pad of 4x4s over the wound with tape to keep the inside of the bag clean. We used to tie the chin with a strap and the hands and feet together with strings too, but the morticians said it left permanent marks on the bodies so we stopped. I believe treating patients with dignity extends to how the remains are treated. Plus a body in a gown moves easier against the inside of the body bag so you don't have to struggle getting them inside and closing it together to zip it.

btw, we also did a bath and clean hospital gown when the person passed, either asking the family to step out for a bit or while they were on the way to the hospital, the families are always so grateful for this show of caring on our part that I believe they would approve of the gown being on for transport to the morgue as well.

[tokidokifantasy]

In class, we learned that every facility has different protocols, some facility will just bag the body naked, but some facility would actually go extra mile to put on clothes or gowns.

However

In the years I have worked as a mortician in the funeral home, most of the bodies come in naked with just the bag. And some actually come in with gowns, but it does not matter, because the person who picks up the body from the hospital will actually undress them to prepare for an embalming. So, when we see the bodies in the fridge, everyone of them is undressed. I even heard families complaining that how come they dress their loved ones in hospital but when the family arrive to see their loved ones, they are all naked. Well, that's part of funeral home protocols.

The whole dignity part to me remains after the body is prepared for a viewing and service. I think the last image of their loved ones is very important so I always make sure I do a good job with makeup and dressing...etc.

[Quark09]

At the facility I worked at during my first pregnancy, linens were left on for family, and when the funeral home came to retrieve the body, the linens were bagged and returned to us (this was a small town/small hospital).

[Afer2005]

I send them in a clean Gown and a pillow under their head before bagged...

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

At the facility I worked at during my first pregnancy, linens were left on for family, and when the funeral home came to retrieve the body, the linens were bagged and returned to us (this was a small town/small hospital).

Really? All of the different policies are quite interesting.

[nightengalegoddess]

I would like to add something personal. A dear friend passed at home after hospice (at home). His ex-wife's last loving acts for him, and she did this with such tenderness, was to fashion his long hair, put his jewelry on, wash and polish him up head to toe. Lovingly remembering all the years of joy this body had given to her life with all of his loving actions and hard work. She was very well aware that the spirit was gone, but felt that his spirit was watching, right there. She sang songs and talked to his spirit and even made jokes, as he was a real joker. She prepared him in a velvet swaddle, on the bed in his bedroom.....all who loved him got to come and see him that night and day with flowers and candles and pictures of lifetime of happiness. The son spent the night in the room with the body. The next day his body was taken to the mortuary for cremation. I know this happens in lots of cultures, but it was the first time I've seen in "white" people. It was the most touching experience, viewing him like that in his own home, as he had been my best friend for many years, and I helped him with his hospice as well. Just a little addendum. Thanks for letting me share.

[locolorenzo22, BSN, RN]

i think we can all agree we each have our own views on death and dignity, and perhaps the most telling thing is this.

We CARE for our patients in our way regardless of where they fall on the scale of life and death. We do what we feel we MUST or what families request. I became a nurse to dignify a person's right to die as comfortably as possible. I'm personally proud to see all the posts this simple question has gotten. Keep on keeping on great nurses, proud to be one of you.

[BabyLady, BSN, RN]

I work in the NICU and the infant is bathed and dressed as appropriate as we can get it (which can be difficult, due to size) before being sent to the nursing home.

I would have told whoever, where to stick it if they asked me to do such an disrespectful thing to a body.

[nursel56]

I would like to add something personal. A dear friend passed at home after hospice (at home). His ex-wife's last loving acts for him, and she did this with such tenderness, was to fashion his long hair, put his jewelry on, wash and polish him up head to toe. Lovingly remembering all the years of joy this body had given to her life with all of his loving actions and hard work. She was very well aware that the spirit was gone, but felt that his spirit was watching, right there. She sang songs and talked to his spirit and even made jokes, as he was a real joker. She prepared him in a velvet swaddle, on the bed in his bedroom.....all who loved him got to come and see him that night and day with flowers and candles and pictures of lifetime of happiness. The son spent the night in the room with the body. The next day his body was taken to the mortuary for cremation. I know this happens in lots of cultures, but it was the first time I've seen in "white" people. It was the most touching experience, viewing him like that in his own home, as he had been my best friend for many years, and I helped him with his hospice as well. Just a little addendum. Thanks for letting me share.

That is a touching story. On a related note to those cultural issues, I understand that finding artifacts around burial sites a sign of a higher level of awareness on the evolutionary path. Though how one relates to an intimate friend or relative is different from how a non-related professional would relate, it certainly shows that very deeply rooted significance surrounding death became one of the hallmarks of what it means to be a human being today, spiritual as well as physical, able to grasp the concepts of a yesterday and a tomorrow.

[vampiregirl, BSN, RN]

I have worked at two different very different nursing homes... at each place we always give the deceased a full bed bath and put them in a clean gown. We also put a clean chux under the body to absorb any escaping body fluids. Usually we also change all the bed linen. When I was a CNA, I used to apply lotion too. I'm pretty sure that at least some of the CNA's where I work now apply lotion too. Often times the family members will hold the deceased's hand or stroke their arms or face. Dehydration is often part of the dying process. The lotion will at least give a little additional softness to the skin, as well as a more pleasant smell. I also try to keep a blanket over the body to hold in some of the body heat, so the body isn't so cold to touch. To me it's a dignity issue for a deceased and a respect issue towards the family. This only takes a few minutes, but seems to mean the world to the families who come in to say goodbye to their loved ones.

[carolmaccas66, BSN, RN]

For God's sake, saving money on linen? What next - not using body bags at all?

You did the right thing to refuse. Where has respect for the dead's dignity gone to?

[billyboblewis]

I am truly amazed by these comments. I have lived and worked in the deepest South since 1978. I have worked with many devout fundamentalist Christians among others. I have never seen any of them or my self who had a problem preparing someone to be released to the morgue or funeral home in anything but the thin plastic bag that comes in a kit. Of course people with draining wounds and other items are padded. I am surprised I have never ran into any of the people who have responded to this post or people who think like them. I know I have always been too busy to have to dwell on things like this.