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‘Til Death Do Us Part?’ The Nurse’s Role in the Care of the Dead

2006; Elsevier BV; Volume: 27; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1016/j.gerinurse.2005.12.004

1528-3984

Cynthia Blum,

Grief, Bereavement, and Mental Health

In the immediate hours after a person takes his or her last breath, the nurse has always been present. In the hospital or at home, under hospice care or without warning, the nurse is frequently the last to hold the hand of those transitioning from life to death. The nurse, in assuring the patient and family a peaceful transition, finds her role to include caring for the body with reverence to the religious and cultural concerns that the patient holds sacred.