The role of nurses in case of death

Whether in hospitals, retirement homes, or at home, nurses are essential for the proper functioning of patient care. But when these patients die, what are the gestures and words to follow for a nurse.

The announcement of the death

When death occurs, the first thing to do is to see. Or, more precisely, of the declaration by a doctor.

If the death occurs in hospital, or in an institute of medical intervention, the announcement of the death in the family is not subject to laws specific. In fact, there is no legal obligation on the person to announce the death. Generally, it is the doctor in charge of the patient, which announces his death to the family, or the doctor, who found his death. This announcement is therefore only rarely performed by a nurse, since it is the doctor who was followed throughout the treatment, and who knows the details of the diagnosis.

The first things to have when death occurs

Once the death is found, a presentation of the body must be carried out by nurses. It will precede the work done by the thanatopracteur and the agents body.

In a first step, nurses are required to withdraw all of the medical devices of the patient. They remove so the tubes, infusions and all other medical equipment that the patient had for him.

The nurse should then ask the guards on the bed of the patient, and then, once the patient has been transported to the death chamber, need to redo it correctly on the bed.

For the thanatopracteur who will then prepare the body, it is preferable that the nurses leave the head of the deceased slightly raised and not flat. And they dress the deceased.

The nurses at the hospital are not expected to make a toilet on the deceased patient. What are the mortuary services, which it will once the body of the deceased recovered.

So much the more, that it was important to respect the religion of the deceased. Indeed, the jews as well as muslims who have funeral rites and specific, it should not be the hinder.

How to react to the death of a patient

The loss of a patient is an inevitable part of the profession of nursing. It is for this reason that he must not neglect it. Even if the nurse should remain professional, the grief process must still be put in place in certain situations.

It is normal for a nurse to attach to her patients, especially for nurses working in the home. In this case, the loss of a patient that they treat regularly and that you appreciate can be brutal.

The nurse must therefore make the mourning of his patient, as it would for a person who is close to him.

Of course, this mourning will probably last for less time than for a relative, but the latter will assist the nurse to accept the death of his patient, and to soothe the pain he could feel.

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