You, Me and death body!!!!!

One of the job that nurse at my hospital have to do is "tagging and bagging" patient body after they passed away!!! It's usually not our job but since Kaiser Hospital got sue for cremating the wrong body, our administrator decided, it would be better of that the 'Nurse' will tag and bag the body before sending them to the morgue!!!

My first time, I see and touch real death body was when I had to take Anatomy class...the sight was fine becuase all human organs wasn't bother me but the smell of chemical in the lab was always the killer...every single time I had to go to Cadaver lab..

I also still remember the first time my patient die, it was my first day as a nurse in nursing home. It's sad because she was in nursing home and had no relative. She have 'Do not Ressucitate' wish, we couldn't do anything for her more than just be there until she passed!!! We all know that she probably wouldn't make it until the morning (It's 4 AM). Becasuse it wasn't a busy night and nobody should die alone, so one of the nurse assisstant and me stayed by her bedside until her very last breath.

After the patient passed away, if it is not a coroner case and no family around, I always try to 'tag and bag' the body as soon as possible. As we all know, after we die all the muscle and spinter are no longer work, so everything that could come out.. would come out , the longer we wait, the horrible the smell!!!
We will clean and removed everything from the body, then put one tag (name, date of birth, medical number) on patient toe and another one on the zipper of the bag. Then, move patient into the body bag, I usually put a couple stickers that have pt's info on the bag. Zipper is the most important, make sure that it open from the head down...I did it wrong once, and I had to rebag the patient again and it's not an easy task

Last Sunday, I was orienting a new nurse and we happend to help on of my friend bagging the patient. The daughter wanted to wait until everyone in the family come to say goodbye and she did not allow us to clean the body. So, by the time she left and we actually get to the body, it was 4+ hours after the time that she passed

Me and my friend gown up with mask and everything because I can guarantee, the sight and smell would be really bad. But when I look at my orientee, she gowned up but didn't put the mask on..so I said:

Me: Why don't you use the mask, the smell will be really bad!!

Orientee: I'm O.K..the smell never bother me....don't worry!!!

Me: ...you'll see.

When we entered the room we hardly smell anyting so she made a smarta-- comment to me and my friend: 'See, it's not that bad. I can handle it'. My friend and I grinning at each other and uncover the blanket...the smell was hit us right away My orientee still kept her cool by not complaining anything, even though I could tell that she almost gag...so we removed all the tube, bandage and the cloth and start clening the front...as soon as we turn the body to the side (and you can see everything on the sheet underneath the patient), right then I saw my orientee ran to the bathroom and threw up ..it may sound really mean, but me and my friend (couldn't help) burst out laughing ....and my friend told the orientee: "WE TOLD YOU SO"

So, we end up call another CNA to help us finish the job...and I know for sure that my orientee will never forget her 'first time'.

Create Date : 15 กรกฎาคม 2549		5 comments
Last Update : 15 กรกฎาคม 2549 7:04:35 น.
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