we had our first real clinical today, which was supposed to consist of a tour of the morgue and patient assessments on our floor. However, during our lab time, my instructor who happens to work in the ER informs us that there is a dead body in there and they would like help to shroud it.
I thought I would be ok, although I have only had 1 close experience with a dead body besides being at funerals, and that one wasn't that bad.
We walked into the room, and there the guy laid with his eyes and mouth open. I started to feel uncomfortable after a few minutesa and even started to feel like I was going to get sick. I wanted out of that room so bad, but we stayed in there for half an hour.
I thought about it the rest of the day, and I'm worried that I won't be able to physically handle, as in touch, a dead body. Although I did it at work a couple weeks ago, and it was slightly uncomfortable, but it was an older patient. This guy was in his 30's.
FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I
3,619 Posts
How sad, Jen. That must have made you feel terrible. What a horrible way to die. He at least had a caring person to do his post mortem care.