Providing Pediatric Postmortem Care for the Patient and Their Families.

Nurses can find pediatric postmortem care to be daunting due to the emotional burden associated with performing the task. There is little education and preparation provided to nurses regarding their own potential emotional reactions and the needs of family members. Postmortem care is extremely emotional for the child's family, but it can help facilitate the grieving process. The act of postmortem care promotes a soothing environment after the trauma of the pronouncement of death. Regardless of the child's age, parents and caregivers are provided with the opportunity to clean the body, making the child look as much like themselves as possible. This promotes dignity and a sense of meaning for those around them. Allowing parents to perform this care in a devoted and familiar way can be instrumental in helping them feel that they gave their child love and care. Caregivers find comfort in performing a bath or dressing a child as they have done since the child was born. Nursing support is valuable in keeping parents physically safe and emotionally supported as they grieve. Nursing is also instrumental in assisting with the care and explaining the expected body changes that will occur. The literature review obtained through CINHAL and PubMed highlighted a lack of content on this topic. Clinical experiences and anecdotes confirmed the impact and clinical implications for pediatric nursing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]