Will I need to visit a morgue when studying to be a nurse?!
Question: I am hoping to begin my bachelor of nursing degree this year and am really excited abiout doing so, I know there are going to be some challenges, for example, doing stitches and wound care etc, the thing is my friend told me that nurses need to visit a morgue as part of their training to learn to be ok around dead people and stuff so that when the time comes you dont freak out, I can understand this would be an important thing to prepare for, but do I actually need to visit a morgue??
Answers: I am hoping to begin my bachelor of nursing degree this year and am really excited abiout doing so, I know there are going to be some challenges, for example, doing stitches and wound care etc, the thing is my friend told me that nurses need to visit a morgue as part of their training to learn to be ok around dead people and stuff so that when the time comes you dont freak out, I can understand this would be an important thing to prepare for, but do I actually need to visit a morgue??
I have been a nurse for 14 years, and I have never visited a morgue. I guess it depends on your nursing school. I have never heard of one that required you to visit a morgue. There are so many options available for nurses. There is a great chance that you could land a job in an area where you would never have to even be around a dead person. When I was in school, I had a patient who had cancer and was about to die. I was terrified because I thought he would die while I was in his room. He didn't, but since then, I have held the hands of numerous patients as they died. I have performed morgue care on many patients. I am no longer afraid to be around dying people, and I actually have grown to see it as a privilege, much like an OB nurse might consider delivering a baby to be a privilege. Death is a stage of life that everyone must go through. It is definitely not my favorite part of nursing, but I can now deal with it, and do a good job of it.
Nurses don't usually put in stitches. I have never been taught how, although I have assisted physicians as they sutured. Wound care is a given. But again, once out of school, you can choose your field. If you aren't comfortable with wound care, try for a job that doesn't require it.
I have done geriatric/psychiatric nursing in a nursing home, general medical/surgical nursing on an orthopedic unit in two different hospitals, and I am currently a home health nurse. There are jobs for nurses in clinics, schools, insurance companies, attorney's offices, hospitals, nursing homes, industrial areas, and even on your computer at home. Once you are out of school, you can choose what sort of nurse you want to be, and your experience in school will help you determine that. You might go through your OB rotation in school and decide that OB is definitely for you, or maybe critical care or emergency room is for you.
Please don't let anything that anyone tells you that you'll have to do discourage you from pursuing your nursing degree. Nursing school is only 2-4 years, and you can do anything they require you to do. If you hate it, just remember, chances are you may never have to do it again after nursing school.
I'm not sure since I've never studied to become a nurse; however, don't you think you should be comfortable with things like death and a morgue if you're going into the medical profession? It takes a certain type of person to clean up after others and take care of sick people ... I really think it's important to be open minded and ok with the possibility of visiting one. Maybe you can ask yourself if you'd seriously consider NOT being a nurse if you had to visit a morgue, and if the answer is YES, then perhaps you don't really want to be a nurse bad enough.
you will need to study anatomy and this will take you to a cadaver for examination and exploration
I think that all depends on the nursing program at the college that you will be attending.
I personally have never heard of such thing.
probably but that is part of the job you will do,my grand daughter had an operation three weeks ago and a student first year nurse went to the operating theatre while she was having her op, and she was telling us she didn't know if she would be able for it,
but she was and she said its the most interesting thing she has seen, she wasn't afraid and she was fine and nice to tell us all about it.
so don't worry you will be fine. good luck.
Looking at a body someone used to have is not such a issue.
In some countries when someone famous dies they lie in an open coffin and people queue up to see them and say goodbye. I don't think that going to a morgue is going to prepare a nurse for loss of a patient, those are just bodies of people you never knew, a patient is someone the nurses spoke to and looked after.
The hardest thing must be to tell the worried relatives that someone has died and it should be a doctor or a consultant who does that, not a nurse.
Well ive just finished my nursing course and it wasnt compulsory to visit the morgue but we did get the option. If you dont feel comfortable you dont have to but depending on your uni you probably wont be allowed to see a actual dead body or autopsy. But do prepare yourself for death cause you will have to face it and also prepare the body for the morgue but dont worry it will come naturally and by the end of you course you'll be right. But by visiting the morgue you will be able to understand how everything works in relation to death and patients. All the best!
yes you have to do that at times.
I never went there. I think during the schooling it was an optional field trip. Not that I didn't want to I just never happened to go lol.
In a way though, it's a great learning experience. To be able to see all the organs in reality and things explained by a doctor is a great experience. The 1st year of med school they take apart cadaver bodies. There is where you learn the most about the organs.
If you are worried about visiting the morgue, you will be in for a big shock when you get out there working as a nurse. The morgue is nothing compared to some of the stuff you will see and do on your rotations! lol
Good luck in school!!