Reflection on postmortem care - Research Paper Example

Reflection on post mortem care The role of a nurse extends beyond a patient’s death to provision of care immediately after death and before the resident’s transfer to the mortuary. The offered care at this time is referred to as postmortem care and includes care on the dead body and assistance to family members as they view the body. I performed a postmortem care and this paper reflects on the involved activities and experience.The activity involved a postmortem care, the provision of physical care to the dead and the bereaved family.

In the activity, the care provider is expected to observe wishes of the dead person as well as those of the family. Further, the involved nurse may be expected to contact the next of kin and seek permission for possible actions such as undertaking an autopsy and even donation of organs if such cases are involved in the will of the dead. The postmortem care involves three major elements, assessment, diagnosis, and planning. The assessment phase of the activity involves confirmation of the death, evaluation of the family’s emotional condition, and consultation with the family regarding autopsy and organ donation.

The initial stage of the care is the verification that the heart and the lungs have stopped functioning and that the involved physician has pronounced the person dead. The nurse then evaluates emotional status of the bereaved family to offer necessary support. Diagnosis that may identify anxiety and insufficient knowledge among the family follows before contact with the next of kin and the actual care process.My team performed a postmortem care at Rose hospital in Lindsay, Ontario. It was my first time to participate in the activity and I did not know the patient, neither had I attended to him before his death.

Our instructor led us into the room after the family had left and she talked to us in a low voice, probably to ensure that nobody heard us because it was a training exercise and not a professional practice. The activity involved the instructor, four other students, and I. I was the team leader and led the team as we performed postmortem care on the body by removing all the tubes such as the urine and IV catheters. We then cleaned the body and put the identification tag on it. We left the gown on to ensure respect for the body, bagged it, and transferred it to the morgue.

I felt sad at watching the dead body but the experience did not have significant emotional effect on me and I treated the body in a similar way that I would to a patient. A major issue in the post mortem care is ethical practice as the nurse cares for the body and the family and relational ontology theory is applicable. While a nurse may have encountered many instances in postmortem care, uttermost duty should be taken to ensure dignity of the dead and respect for the family as they mourn. The theory focuses on the relationship in the care process that offers the nurse an identity as a care provider and establishes a relationship with the family (Martinsen 2011).

It therefore identifies significance of an informal approach to communication in interaction with family members of the dead because of diversity (Stout, 2012). ReferencesMartinsen, E. (2011). Harm in the absence of care: Towards a medical ethics that cares. Nursing Ethics 18(2).pp. 174-183. Stout, M. (2012). Towards a relational language of process. Administrative Theory & Praxis 34(3). pp. 407-432.