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This short review focuses on the meaning of dissection and autopsy in nursing, along with primary education on human anatomy for undergraduates (especially for first-year students) at our school of nursing. First-year students have the opportunity to take the guided tour on systematic dissection for medical students’ normal anatomy. But it has been only once throughout the whole school years as nursing students. Human dissection has been classified into three categories according to situation: 1) systematic dissection for normal anatomy, 2) pathological autopsy in a clinical setting, usually to be performed immediately after patient’s death, and 3) judicial autopsy or administrative autopsy, which has been included in the social system for safety management and solving forensic issues. The number of pathological autopsy cases has been declining since the mid1980s, not only in Japan, but also in every developed Western country. Recently autopsy imaging has been introduced in clinical fields by the government. It has already affected many safety management systems at hospitals in Japan. Nurses are less aware of pathological autopsy than medical doctors. However, nurses are more sensitive to the emotional needs of dying patients and their families, for whom the role of Pathology Liaison Nurse is expected to reduce their conflicts between on facing the patient’s death and on clarifying the cause of and potential treatment for diseases. Such nurses may be able to raise their hope to establish the treatment even for intractable diseases., 看護における解剖の意味について，学部教育から臨床場面，支援の完遂まで現状の概説を試みた．本学の学部教育での「人体構造学」と系統解剖実習見学を述べ，解剖の目的別に，1）正常構造の教育・研究では，解剖そのものの制度背景と他国の看護学生の状況，看護師に期待されるフィジカルアセスメントの基礎となる臓器位置関係とその個体差など，実体認識の必要性を，2）病理所見の確認では，病理解剖の手順，最近広く行われている死亡時画像診断（Autopsy Imaging, Ai ）の概要と限界，病理解剖件数の低下が世界的に生じている状況を，3）社会的要請では，司法解剖と行政解剖の概要を述べ，安全管理と死因究明の関係の視点を加えた．総括して，看護師にも解剖一般，とりわけ病理解剖への知識が必要であること，Pathology Liaison Nurse としての活動ができれば，患者や家族の予期悲嘆の軽減にも繋がる可能性を述べた．今後，患者側の視点を援助するため病理解剖に関連する看護研究が待たれる．