Morgue procedure?

Imafloat, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2008

We carry them down. We wrap them and put them in their bag, then we wrap a big blanket around them and carry them down in our arms, escorted by security.

elizabells, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2008

Our morgue guys use a bassinette, although they will often try to put the baby in the drawer of said bassinette. I never let them. We are not permitted to go with them to the morgue. Oh, and they won't take the baby if the parents are in the room.

preemieRNkate, RN · Mar 20, 2008

We carry them down. We wrap them and put them in their bag, then we wrap a big blanket around them and carry them down in our arms, escorted by security.

We carry them down as well in our arms, wrapped in a blanket. I meant in the morgue itself. Thanks!

preemieRNkate, RN · Mar 20, 2008

Our morgue guys use a bassinette, although they will often try to put the baby in the drawer of said bassinette. I never let them. We are not permitted to go with them to the morgue. Oh, and they won't take the baby if the parents are in the room.

That's what I'm thinking, maybe a bassinette or one of the big cribs we use for our chronic kids. Just something nicer than putting them on a shelf, you know? That's kind of terrible that you guys aren't allowed to go with them to the morgue. Why is that?

elizabells, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2008

Oh, once they're in the morgue I think they go in drawers. I have no idea what happens once they leave our unit.

I don't know why we can't go with them. All I know is when Z died, we all asked if we could take him down and were told no. Then the morgue tech opened the drawer of the bassinette, took one look at my face (I was holding Z at that moment) and said "If I try to put him in this drawer you're going to hurt me, aren't you?" I just said "Yep." Then the next day when the funeral director came and they couldn't find the body (swear to god!) the morgue tech tried to say the nurses had brought him down and must have put him in the wrong place. They did find him eventually, and now I always get the name of the morgue tech.

And take heart - years ago, in our hospital, when a baby died, if they were small enough, the morgue guy carried them down in a paper bag. At least we're doing better than THAT.

preemieRNkate, RN · Mar 20, 2008

Oh, once they're in the morgue I think they go in drawers. I have no idea what happens once they leave our unit.
I don't know why we can't go with them. All I know is when Z died, we all asked if we could take him down and were told no. Then the morgue tech opened the drawer of the bassinette, took one look at my face (I was holding Z at that moment) and said "If I try to put him in this drawer you're going to hurt me, aren't you?" I just said "Yep." Then the next day when the funeral director came and they couldn't find the body (swear to god!) the morgue tech tried to say the nurses had brought him down and must have put him in the wrong place. They did find him eventually, and now I always get the name of the morgue tech.
And take heart - years ago, in our hospital, when a baby died, if they were small enough, the morgue guy carried them down in a paper bag. At least we're doing better than THAT.

Our morgue doesn't have drawers, it's just a big refrigerated room. I'm just trying to think of something a little better than a shelf. It's like a rolling metal cart, and the shelf is the bottom shelf (the top of the cart holds the logbook and stuff). So the shelf is about knee height or so.

There is a story from years ago, when a baby died they were wrapped in the bag, and then in a blanket and then placed into a patient belonging bag to be carried down in. Well, the funeral home came to pick up someone, saw the patient belonging bag closeby and thought it was actual belongings. Never looked in it, gave it to the family. They got quite a shock when they didn't find Grandpa's shoes in the bag! So they stopped that practice. We now wrap them in the bag, then blankets, then carry them in our arms.

acerila · Mar 20, 2008

Our morgue guys use a bassinette

that's what we use and we cover it. We recently had an incident where a new nurse took the baby and carried the baby in her arms. She was stopped in the hallway by some family members (of another baby) who wanted to look at the cute little baby (thankfully they didn't realize the baby was dead..I guess they thought the baby was asleep?! who knows...) Anyways, she got in a lot of trouble since some of my coworkers noticed it and were not happy with the whole incident.

iHeartNICU · Mar 20, 2008

Ugh, I had m first death the other day and me and my preceptor were wrapping the baby in the blanket, and then we put him in the bag and then she asked me to open the drawer and I thought she was kidding or something. She said, no really, open the drawer we have to put them in there to wheel them down to the morgue because they have had people stop and want to see the baby before, not knowing it was dead. I was so shocked that they did it like that. She also said that many times the family is still in the waiting room and the baby would have to be wheeled down past them and they don't want to do that to the parents after they have already had their time and said goodbye to the baby. So, I went with it, although I didn't like that and sure enough grandma was still in the waiting room. We wheeled on past her with an empty crib....it was weird.

Once we got to the morgue though I'm not sure what they do with the baby. The guy took the baby and said thanks and walked away so I don't know what they do. I hope it wasn't just a shelf but most likely it was. It was all a little disturbing to me but one thing I was very impressed with was the way in which everyone treated the baby. Like, when we gave him a bath we still used warm water and dried him off and were gentle, and things like that. That is definately a first that I will not forget.

Imafloat, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2008

We carry them down as well in our arms, wrapped in a blanket. I meant in the morgue itself. Thanks!

We hand them over to the security officer who is down there, the three people present sign a paper for handoff, and then the nurse leaves. I am not sure what happens after that.

preemieRNkate, RN · Mar 20, 2008

What currently happens in my unit is: once the baby is all ready to be brought down, we call distribution services (the guys who deliver stuff throughout the hospital, sometimes transport patients, and they also escort nurses to the morgue). They come up, and usually 2 (the nurse that cared for the baby, and one for moral support) nurses go down with them to the morgue. They baby at this point is in the bag and then wrapped in a blanket. We carry the baby in our arms and we use the service elevator. Since I have only experienced this at night, I haven't encountered people in the hallway asking to see the baby or anything. (Even when I'm transporting an alive baby around to wherever, I tend to be kind of overprotective and I often cover the top of the transporter or crib with a blanket while in the hallway and I don't let people other than family look.) The elevator is pretty much right outside the unit anyway, there isn't much hallway.

Once downstairs, the distribution person unlocks the morgue for us, and we go in and enter the baby in the logbook, and then put him on the shelf. This is the part that is bothering me. I want to be able to put the baby someplace other than the shelf. Maybe I'm being crazy about this, but it really bothers me. I've never had it happen, but what if a family asks where the baby goes in the morgue? I feel like we're so respectful of the babies in everything else we do when it comes to death, and then we just leave them on the shelf.

dawngloves, BSN, RN · Mar 20, 2008

A trasport person comes with a Moses basket and takes them to the morgue in that.