Totally Freaked out by Autopsy

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · May 1, 2005

I'm sure the fact that you've recently lost family members had a lot to do with your revulsion toward the autopsy procedures you witnessed. You should be proud of yourself for your strength and determination, that would have been hard on anyone. :icon_hug:

I know what those doctors and technicians do seems brutal, even disrespectful, but you might want to think of it this way: what better way to honor the dead than by trying to discover how they died, so that students such as yourself can learn from it and maybe someday prevent that from happening to someone else?

Just my :twocents:

elizabells, BSN, RN · May 1, 2005

I'm sure the fact that you've recently lost family members had a lot to do with your revulsion toward the autopsy procedures you witnessed. You should be proud of yourself for your strength and determination, that would have been hard on anyone. :icon_hug:
I know what those doctors and technicians do seems brutal, even disrespectful, but you might want to think of it this way: what better way to honor the dead than by trying to discover how they died, so that students such as yourself can learn from it and maybe someday prevent that from happening to someone else?
Just my

My .02 as well - working with a cadaver can be very physically difficult. I found in my anatomy lab that sometimes you have to struggle with the bodies, and that can contribute to what appears to be the brutality of the procedure. I have heard the same thing from surgeons who watched the autopsy of one of their patients - it seems weird to them because that's not how you handle a live patient.

MryRose · May 1, 2005

Hi,
On Thursday I went and saw an Autopsy. I just finished A&P I and start A&P II on Tuesday. I knew the procedure would be "gross" but I cannot seem to get the images out of my head. It was not even so much the procedure but the total lack of disrespect for the dead. I know they are dead but it just seem like a slaughter house. There were 2 autopsies going on at the same time and it just was crazy. I did get a lot of educational value from it but I really just need reassurance that I am not crazy.
I recently just had 2 deaths in the family (brother in law age 28 and cousin age 35) who both had autopsies. Maybe I am just picturing this as the way they were treated and it is really upsetting me. I don't know how people do this job everyday and stay sane. No matter what they make an hour it is not enough. God bless them because I know it could not be me!!!
Thanks for letting me vent
Jenn

((((((((((((Jenn)))))))))).

I declined going to an autopsy this past week myself as I could not get past the thought of my Dad's autopsy even tho it has been a few years.

This was option to attend for physiology class. Is an autopsy mandatory for ADN??? Honestly I am not sure how I will handle it if it is. I can deal with deqath, but seeing the body handled like that would freak me out too.

Hugs to ya Jen!

MaryRose

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · May 1, 2005

Maybe it has to do with the recent deaths in your family (my sympathy). I had worked inpt hospice for years, and was never bothered by being around dead people. That was, until my brother died. Then, it started to really bother me for a while.

Katydidit34 · May 1, 2005

((((((((((((Jenn)))))))))).
This was option to attend for physiology class. Is an autopsy mandatory for ADN??? Honestly I am not sure how I will handle it if it is. I can deal with deqath, but seeing the body handled like that would freak me out too.
Hugs to ya Jen!
MaryRose

I live in Texas and unless you are in medical school, you cannot work with cadavers or witness autopsies. The laws here are very strict about that.

My hat is off to you for being able to make it through an autopsy after losing people you love. I lost my dad in July 2003 and took A&P II the fall semester. I cried half way through it. Any disease process we discussed that remotely related to him brought me to tears. I had to tell my professor that I wasn't crazy. LOL!! I think you handled it beautifully. Just try start replacing those memories with good ones when they surface and get it out of your head.

Achoo!, LPN · May 1, 2005

I have been working as a lab assistant for the A&P II class this year, and it is very difficult to maneuver the cadaver. They are rigor mortis and hard to turn and move in order to access things. We do however, keep her face and genital area covered at all times, as we don't really get into the facial muscles and nerves, and you can see inside the pelvic cavity without looking at the external genitalia. We try to be as respectful as possible. I may be asked to help with dissection when we get a new one this summer.

MryRose · May 1, 2005

I live in Texas and unless you are in medical school, you cannot work with cadavers or witness autopsies. The laws here are very strict about that.
My hat is off to you for being able to make it through an autopsy after losing people you love. I lost my dad in July 2003 and took A&P II the fall semester. I cried half way through it. Any disease process we discussed that remotely related to him brought me to tears. I had to tell my professor that I wasn't crazy. LOL!! I think you handled it beautifully. Just try start replacing those memories with good ones when they surface and get it out of your head.

Sorry about your loss too.

Thanks for understanding..... it gets better as time goes on.

Hugs!

MaryRose

Lilac · May 1, 2005

Hi,
On Thursday I went and saw an Autopsy. I just finished A&P I and start A&P II on Tuesday. I knew the procedure would be "gross" but I cannot seem to get the images out of my head. It was not even so much the procedure but the total lack of disrespect for the dead. I know they are dead but it just seem like a slaughter house. There were 2 autopsies going on at the same time and it just was crazy. I did get a lot of educational value from it but I really just need reassurance that I am not crazy.
I recently just had 2 deaths in the family (brother in law age 28 and cousin age 35) who both had autopsies. Maybe I am just picturing this as the way they were treated and it is really upsetting me. I don't know how people do this job everyday and stay sane. No matter what they make an hour it is not enough. God bless them because I know it could not be me!!!
Thanks for letting me vent
Jenn

You're not crazy, dear. You were just exposed to a new procedure you absolutely weren't used to.

In our society, we don't deal with death all that often, and certainly the average person doesn't see autopsies. Add to that your personal feelings due to your own family members having had autopsies performed on them, and it's not surprising at all that you had a hard time.

When I took an A&P class in which we were fortunate to have a dissected cadaver to view, our instructor was very, very careful how he introduced us to it. We actually went through steps to make sure we could handle it before we began any work with it. He told us that it's very common for students to faint the first time they see a dissected cadaver. I'm sure the same would apply to an autopsy.One of the things he recommended before we even went into the room with the cadaver was to watch the movie "Gross Anatomy," to kind of get us used to the idea.

Recently,in a different anatomy class, we had to dissect a sheep's brain in lab, and the specimens hadn't held up in the embalming fluid. They were decomposing, and yet our instructor made us dissect them and handle them, despite that fact. I went home from school and smelled that awful smell for the next two days!

I wondered what the heck ever possessed her to not only have us go ahead and do the dissection, but also she encouraged us to pick it up in our hands.The only reason I could come up with was to help us get used to the fact that a lot of nursing is "icky". There will be times when we have to care for patients who have festering wounds, and we will need to be able to react in a professional and caring manner, no matter how bad it is.

There will be lots of other things you will be exposed to during your nursing career that you will have to learn to handle seeing and dealing with. Take heart in the fact that you didn't faint or go running out of the room. Considering it was your first exposure, you handled it really well:)

BTW-sorry to hear about your loved ones. I just learned that my dad is now in the late stages of his liver cancer, and his doctors advised my mom to get hold of hospice:( I cried my way through school last week. We were doing special senses, and the part on the lacrimal gland made me think about crying, and I started crying again.

Nursing is part science, but also part emotion. You'll need both aspects to be a good nurse. Sounds like you are doing well in both areas:)

mariedoreen · May 1, 2005

I witnessed my first autopsy at age 18 when I started work in a pathology lab and I felt many of the same things that you're describing. There's a part of you that expects it to be this controlled surgical procedure... incision here, retractors, keep it clean and go slow... uh no. I was appalled and I think I remember using the words disrespect for the dead myself and wondered how could those doing the autopsy be so nonchalant about it?! The poor person there DIED! Have you all forgotten that?! But... time went on and I too adjusted... I came to understand why the procedure is done the way it is (brutal as it seems to the uninitiated) and that the nonchalance displayed by those involved is not a matter of disrespect -- it's a defense mechanism. Grief is very draining, if you allowed yourself to dwell and focus on the family's pain and loss to a great extent you would burn out within two weeks. And then who would solve our medical mysteries?