Post-Mortem care, PLEASE realize it is a human being.

[demylenated, BSN, RN]

I have been in the healthcare field for a very long time. I've been a nurse 3.4 of that time, and am in school to advance my degree. I have a hx of LTC (when I was a CNA) and hospice care as both a visiting nurse and a continuous care coordinator. So, I have dealt with a LOT of death, and post-mortem care.

I was absolutely horrified the other day. During clinicals I was pulled, along with a noob student, to do post-mortem care. The only "learning experience" for me was it was an ICU patient, and she had just about every line you could have. So, I got to see new lines, how they were inserted, and what they were for.

Of course we had to remove all the lines, and continue with care (clean, change the bed, dress pt) to get her ready for her family. The funeral home said it would be 2.5 hours till they'd get there (so we were NOT under a time constraint).

So, the ICU nurse began removing lines. When we started helping, she kept saying, "hurry up, you can remove it faster, you don't have to worry about going to slow, she isn't going to feel it." My noob removed the IV from the CL and it started bleeding. She had informed the nurse she had never saw, let alone work with a CL. The nurse said just d/c the IV. Well, my fellow student D/C'd them at the hub, not at the connection... so the nurse slowed for a moment to ream her for a second (then realized she did not help with it by explaining what to do).

Anyhow a (VERY) long story short... I had to stand back. I was taken aback by the lack of respect and dignity this woman was being treated with. When the nurse removed the pasty that kept the ET tube in with such force it snapped the woman's head. She removed a dressing, and skin came with it - she just shrugged and moved on.

If you have worked in a field where you see dead bodies so much that they are nothing short of a piece of meat then MOVE ON! If that were my mother in that bed and I would know how she was treated, I would probably have met that nurse in the parking lot. I spoke to the nurse AND HER MANAGER after we were done. I was appalled. No, it was worse than appalling... I can't find the right word. I was so shaken that I cried when we left the floor.

This person is a HUMAN BEING who was alive just 30 minutes ago. This is someone's mother, father, sister, brother, son, daughter. Sure, they don't "feel it" but neither does someone in a coma. So, how does that nurse treat her other patients who can't feel?

When I do post-mortem care, I still take time to warm the water. I remove a band aid like I do from a live person, I don't just rip it off. Heck, I still talk to the person. Just because that person just breathed their last breath doesn't turn them into a slab of ham to throw around, rip things off of, and treat disrespectfully. Death, and the after care is part of our job, too. It isn't the time to take out our frustrations. Please, think of what the family would think if they were watching how you are taking care of their family member.

There should still be dignity with death. Please, remember this... It isn't that hard or time consuming to be respectful to someone who just breathed their last. If nothing else, just remember it is part of our job.

(And, someone may say about the funeral home - IDC how or what happens at the funeral home (well, I do, but I don't have to see it), they deal JUST WITH dead bodies. They didn't just get done caring for this person trying to save her life. They do not go to school to LEARN caring behaviors. It is NOT the same thing).

[mcleanl]

I too always try and be respectful....but some people deal with situations differently. I have seen really great nurses joke inappropriatly (even done it myself a time or two) during stressful situations. You may not know the full extent of the story......this nurse may have issues dealing with dead bodies, or she may hve spent every minute of her last three shifts trying to keep this patient alive and just couldn't spend another moment in this room. The possibilities are limitless........

Give the best possible care when you can and encourage great nursing but try not to second guess another nurse.

[tex42cares]

Oh My Gosh!!! That has got to be so heart-wrenching to witness. I am in CNA school right now, we spent almost 2 days lecture on Post Mortem care. That nurse needs to obviously needs to be re-educated in the same manner we were just taught. I have faith that she will one day soon realize, in her heart, that was very inappropriate behavior.:redbeathe:twocents:

[FLArn]

To mcleanl:

I must respectfully disagree with a portion of your post. While I can completely understand being emotionally spent having tried so hard to keep a patient alive and having difficulty dealing with having lost that patient, that does NOT EVER make disrespecting a body in the ways described by the original poster ok, EVER! If one is so stressed one can't treat the person (and they still are a person) properly then one need to trade tasks with another nurse or put on our big girl panties and provide the care that the person deserves. Just my:twocents:

[Tinknurse2B]

:tinkbll:it really hurt my heart :heartbeat to read your experience so i can't began to think how i would've felt if i were you. that's just terrible to know that anyone would treat the remains of someone that way. just like it is sometimes asked .....wwjd....i know she wouldn't treat the remains that way if any family members were present....and that's the approach she should take when doing so..... do your job as if one of the family members were present if it's so hard for you to just be respectful without that thought in mind. that's just terrible. i'm sorry you had to experience that type of behavior.

[mcleanl]

To mcleanl:

I must respectfully disagree with a portion of your post. While I can completely understand being emotionally spent having tried so hard to keep a patient alive and having difficulty dealing with having lost that patient, that does NOT EVER make disrespecting a body in the ways described by the original poster ok, EVER! If one is so stressed one can't treat the person (and they still are a person) properly then one need to trade tasks with another nurse or put on our big girl panties and provide the care that the person deserves. Just my:twocents:

I never said it was okay.......I am merely saying, please do what you do and do it well, encourage others to do it well.......but it was another example of one nurse judging another.......and I feel it is unneccessary.

We as nurses spend so much time judging what other nurses do.....the OP could have easily written a reminder to remember to use care when taking care of people post-mortem.

....my spell check isn't working...my apologies for sp. mistakes

[aprilfresh]

I too always try and be respectful....but some people deal with situations differently. I have seen really great nurses joke inappropriatly (even done it myself a time or two) during stressful situations. You may not know the full extent of the story......this nurse may have issues dealing with dead bodies, or she may hve spent every minute of her last three shifts trying to keep this patient alive and just couldn't spend another moment in this room. The possibilities are limitless........

Give the best possible care when you can and encourage great nursing but try not to second guess another nurse.

You don't need to know the full extent of the story to expect every patient to be treated with dignity and respect, living or dead. Abuse of a corpse is a crime that is committed whenever someone performs an action on a corpse that would outrage a reasonable family. I would be outraged if someone ripped an ET tube out of my mother's mouth or pulled off her skin when removing a dressing.

[nowim clean]

No excuse for what happened period. If I had been the nurse manager that nurse would have been off my unit and if possible I would have seen them terminated. Patient care does not end just because they stopped breathing. That type of behavior is totally unaceptable. If a healthcare person doing patient care can not provide dignity for any reason then its time to change professions.

[mcleanl]

No excuse for what happened period. If I had been the nurse manager that nurse would have been off my unit and if possible I would have seen them terminated. Patient care does not end just because they stopped breathing. That type of behavior is totally unaceptable. If a healthcare person doing patient care can not provide dignity for any reason then its time to change professions.

Hopefully, if you were the nurse manager you would get both sides of the story. One thing I am glad is that the OP discussed her concerns with the RN in question. That to me shows a high level of integrity. It is okay to nudge people when you feel stuff isn't going right....."hey, let's not forget we need to deal respectfully with human bodies."

[Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN]

There is absolutely no excuse for that nurse! As nurse, heck as HUMAN BEINGS, we treat our pts w/ respect and dignity..EVEN IN DEATH. I'm sure no one will ever say, "Yea. Post mortem care is my favorite part of nursing." I know it isn't mine, but it has to be done. Another poster stated that they actually talk to the pt while doing post mortem care....thought I was the only one!

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

Hold on now- you were with this patient and this nurse for hours doing complex procedures, trying to keep her alive for hours before she died, and had no issue with the nursing care. That nurse may well have been rough, and inappropriate after death, but apparently she was respectful and caring to the living. She might have messed up on postmortem care, or maybe you were feeling extra emotional. I say cut her some slack. Cut her a lot of slack if she did supported the family too, after the death. Nurses are not bulletproof.

[RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN]

My grandmother passed away last month. Several family members were in the room when she passed (me included) but I was the only one who stayed in the room when her RN came for post-mortem care. Seeing the care and attention she gave my grandmother's body gave me even more respect for the nurses who cared for her. It was because of that RN that I came home and started filling out paperwork for nursing school!