Taking Patients down to the Morgue

RunnerRN2015, ASN, RN · Mar 2, 2015

I work in the ER and we always take deceased patients to the morgue.

CNAtoBSN · Mar 2, 2015

Yeah at my facility we take our patients down to the morgue as well.

loriangel14, RN · Mar 2, 2015

Yes we take our patients down to the morgue as well. Although most of the time if the funeral home is local in which case they just come to the floor.

calivianya, BSN, RN · Mar 2, 2015

We take ours down to the morgue unless the funeral home people are just amazingly quick. I've had some stroll up before I've had the chance to get the patient down to the morgue before, but that's relatively uncommon.

cd365c · Mar 2, 2015

Well, I guess it is more common then I thought. Thanks guys.

TammyG · Mar 2, 2015

I have worked in several facilities and, in every case, we had to take the deceased patient to the morgue. Security met us there and there were various protocols that they had to go through. Every hospital has a refrigerated storage unit for the bodies. Often times, it would be days or even weeks before a body was picked up, due to lack of funds or disagreement among family members or lack of family. Every hospital needs a refrigerated unit and a morgue to meet certification standards and to be licensed in most states.

cheezwizz90 · Mar 2, 2015

Wheeling a corpse to the morgue is at times the duty of a nurse, although not really discussed in school. It is enjoyable to me. When a patient dies, the nurse and aide wash the body, tag it, then place it in a plastic bag and zip it closed. Lines, drains and tubes are removed if it's not a coroner's case. If the patient was morbidly obese, then a bariatric body bag is required.

A hospital death is usually not planned and the family is in chaos, so the funeral plans are rarely made before the patient's celestial discharge. Therefore, the morgue cooler is the final in-hospital transfer for the patient. We cannot wait several hours or days for the funeral home to get their act together or for the body to decompose...we need the bed for a warm body!! On day shift, the transport team will do the dirty work for us, but there is no such luxury on nights, and I choose to do it myself on days anyway. Either myself or the aide will go to the hospital police to retrieve and sign-out the morgue key. It's on a large key ring with a 3x5 piece of metal attached and the the word "MORGUE" stamped into it. It adds to dramatic effect and prevents staff from accidently keeping it, although I did get almost home one night and felt it still in my pocket, so I had to go all the way back to the hospital to return it.

Our morgue is a large prep room with a crucifix on the wall, gloves, a linen cart and a flickering florescent light. A ramp leads into the large cooler room, which is usually stocked with stiff, cold bodies. Shelving is along the wall, and this is where plump pediatric body bags lie, biohazard bags containing amputated limbs, and plastic tubs labeled "products of conception." There is a door at the back wall of the cooler that leads to an autopsy suite for in-house autopsy, in case the hospital pathologist wants to do the autopsy in non-coroner cases. First, we go to the morgue and verify that there is room on one of the three double-decker morgue trays and to retrieve the morgue transport cart, which is a stainless steel gurney that has a special metal canopy frame on the top that is used to disguise the grim reality of death from the living patients and visitors who may be in the halls. I disagree with this practice; everyone should be exposed to the reality of death's icy grip. I usually leave the canopy off so that all can see what's likely underneath the white sheet as I'm wheeling the carcass to the cooler. Policy says that we are supposed to drape a sheet over this canopy. I think this make the whole thing even more obvious to staff, but whatever. Next, we wheel the body into the cooler and transfer it to a tray. Two staff members are required, and if the deceased is female, then at least one of the staff members have to be a female to deter necrophiliacs I guess. I make sure a morgue transfer summary sheet is taped to the shroud, and then I call the lab using the phone on the wall to inform them of my deposit. If more family is coming from out of town and wants to view the body, then myself and the aide will come down to the morgue, unload the body and wheel it into a bereavement room, which is a dimly lit room that looks like a fancy hotel lobby with a privacy curtain and lots of Kleenex. We are to comb the hair, wipe away the blood from the mouth and even dress the body from the waist up and put makeup on their face, all in an effort to provide comfort to the family. They can have as long as they like with the body in that room, and a staff member must be present. Of course, we have to put it back in the cooler when the family members are done moaning and crying. All in all, it's a pretty involved process that takes me away from my warm and breathing patients.

Proverbs 17:22

A merry heart doeth good like a medicine:

but a broken spirit drieth the bones.

holistic1028 · Mar 2, 2015

Omg the last poster have me LMAO! Felt like I was reading a mini novel.. good writing

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 2, 2015

Omg the last poster have me LMAO! Felt like I was reading a mini novel.. good writing

YES!!! Maybe the other poster is a former English major or drama/screen play writer? I was half thinking it was either a real post or an episode for some hospital drama themed show or a scene for a movie or pure dark humor and/or sarcasm! :)

Barnstormin' PMHNP · Mar 2, 2015

cheezwhizz90, very good post. I too feel it is a privilege to care for the patients of mine that have passed on. It is the final mystery and I feel I have provided dignity and respect for their final journey.

To the previous two posters, really? That's what you got out of cheezwizz's post? Dark humor and sarcasm? wow.

michlynn, BSN, RN · Mar 2, 2015

I've never had to. Our transporters or orderlies take care of that for us using a special cart that just looks like you're wheeling around equipment.