Question

You have provided all end of life care to your client and she expires comfortably on your shift. Please answer the following question for this scenario.

5. What needs to be done as far as notification of death?

6. How does the nurse(and personnel) care for the body at time of death?

7. What needs to be done as far as documentation after death?

8. As the nurse who has cared for the dying client, communicate your own feelings and coping strategies after such loss?

Answer 1

5. First ,of all the nurse has to inform the duty doctor and nurse in charge and confirm the death and then the family members of the patient has to be informed .

6. The nursing caring at the time of death are :-

- First of all close the eyes if they are open, because after few hours rigor mortis will occur and the body will become rigid and will be difficult to close .

- Remove all the tubings like foley's catheter, ventilator tubings , ryles tubing , IV cannulas etc .

- Remove the hospital dress , and clean the whole body , remove all tapes and suction out all the secretions .

- Close all the orifices and other opening with clean gauze and tape .

- Then put clean clothings, put a label on it mentioning name of the patient ,age ,sex ,cause of death ,date of death , diagnosis and UHID number , keep the arms on the chest , and tie the big fingers of the foot together and then wrap the body in clean white dead body sheet .

- Put a Label including - the name of the patient , UHID number , age ,sex , diagnosis , date of death ,cause of death .

- Complete all the documents like nursing chart , treatment book , death summary log , and dispatch the death summary along with dead body to the mortuary . 3 death summaries has to be made -:

- one to the patient relative

- one to the medical record section

- one to the mortuary

7. Documentation is the important part of the nursing practice . Documentation about death in the nurses chart , patient file , treatment book , death book and mortuary book . Death summary has to be made by the duty doctor and has to be dispatched along with the dead body to mortuary.

Documentation should include :-

-Name of the patient

- Age

-Sex

- UHID number

- Diagnosis

- Ward /ICU

- Cause of death

- Date of death

- Time of death

- Dead body handed over time along with death summary

- Signature of the duty nurse

- Receiving signature of the patient family member

8. Being in nursing profession ,we have to be strong enough to deal with such situations. It's training is given in our period of learning. But being a human sometimes we also lose control because we have feeling for our patients we care . But at the same time I think that the ultimate person who saves and takes life is the GOD and when the time has come everyone has to go some or the other day .So be practical , and also it's better to go than lying in pain for long time .