Last offices

Last updated July 30, 2023

The last offices, or laying out, is the procedures performed, usually by a nurse, to the body of a dead person shortly after death has been confirmed.^[1] They can vary between hospitals and between cultures.

Name

The word "offices" is related to the original Latin, in which officium means "service, duty, business".^[2] Hence these are the "last duties" carried out on the body.

Aims

To prepare the deceased for the mortuary (a funeral home or morgue), respecting their cultural beliefs
To comply with legislation, in particular where the death of a patient requires the involvement of a Procurator Fiscal aka. Coroner
To minimise any risk of cross-infection to relative, health care worker or persons who may need to handle the deceased

^[3]

Procedure

Often the body of the deceased is left for up to an hour as a mark of respect. The procedure then typically includes the following steps, though they can vary according to an institution's preferred practices:

Removal of jewellery unless requested otherwise by the deceased's family. If left on it must be documented in the patient's property list.
Wounds, including pressure sores, should be covered with a waterproof dressing. Tube insertion points should be padded with gauze and tape to avoid purging.
The patient is laid on their back with arms by their side (unless religious customs demand otherwise). Eyelids are closed.
The jaw is often supported with a pillow or cervical collar.
Dentures should be left in place, unless inappropriate.
The bladder is drained by applying pressure on the lower abdomen. Orifices are blocked only if leakage of body fluid is evident.
The body is then washed and dried, the mouth cleaned and the face shaved.
An identification bracelet is put on the ankle detailing: the name of the patient; date of birth; date and time of death; name of ward (if patient died in hospital); patient identification number.
The body is dressed in a simple garment or wrapped in a shroud. An identification label duplicating the above information is pinned to the wrap or shroud.
A stretcher drawsheet is placed under the body to enable removal to a trolley for transportation to the morgue. These trolleys may often be disguised to resemble laundry carts if transportation has to pass through areas where members of the public may be present.

Bathing the dead

Washing the body of a dead person, sometimes as part of a religious ritual, is a customary funerary practice in several cultures. It was delegated to professionals in ancient Egypt and ancient Rome, and by well-off Victorians, and is now in Western societies, but was traditionally performed by "family, friends, and neighbors."^[4]

Judaism

It is part of traditional Jewish burial rites.^[5]

During the Inquisition in Spain, bodies undergoing preparation for burial were sometimes scrutinized for signs that they had been washed, since this was seen as a marker of secret Jewish practice (crypto-Judaism).^[6]

Buddhism and Hinduism

Bathing of the dead, known as yukan, is also found in Buddhism.^[7] It is also found in Hinduism.^[8]

Islam

It is a religious practice in Islam, where the body is washed by members of the dead person's family.^[9] When possible, three washings are performed: first with water infused with plum leaves, then with water infused with camphor, and lastly with purified water.^[10]

The washing is usually performed by others of the same gender, although Islamic Hausa people permit spouses to wash each other's bodies.^[11]

Africa

Funerary bathing is performed in traditional funerals in some countries in West Africa. The ritual washing of the dead is believed to be one of the factors which resulted in the rapid spread of Ebola virus in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in 2014.^[12]

In Algerian religious tradition, a Ĝassâla, or Washer of the Dead is a woman who assists with death purification rites.^[13]

Cultural references

Antigone speaks of washing the dead in accordance with the Greek custom, although she was limited to pouring water on the body of her brother Polyneikes.^[14]

The custom of bathing the dead has been depicted in a number of films. In the 1995 film Braveheart , a young William Wallace watches as women bathe the bodies of his father and brother, who were killed in battle against English troops during the 13th century. The 2009 film The White Ribbon depicts the washing of a deceased housewife in a Northern German village just before World War I. In the film A Midnight Clear (1992), set in the Battle of the Ardennes in World War II, a small group of soldiers are able to take a brief respite from the war when they procure a bath tub and heat up some water. After all have bathed, they wash the body of a comrade who was recently killed while trying to help a unit of German soldiers.

An episode of the HBO series Six Feet Under shows Nate Fisher's body being "slowly and methodically" washed by his mother and brother.^[15]

Related Research Articles

A funeral is a ceremony connected with the final disposition of a corpse, such as a burial or cremation, with the attendant observances. Funerary customs comprise the complex of beliefs and practices used by a culture to remember and respect the dead, from interment, to various monuments, prayers, and rituals undertaken in their honor. Customs vary between cultures and religious groups. Funerals have both normative and legal components. Common secular motivations for funerals include mourning the deceased, celebrating their life, and offering support and sympathy to the bereaved; additionally, funerals may have religious aspects that are intended to help the soul of the deceased reach the afterlife, resurrection or reincarnation.

In Christianity, ablution is a prescribed washing of part or all of the body or possessions, such as clothing or ceremonial objects, with the intent of purification or dedication. In Christianity, both baptism and footwashing are forms of ablution. Prior to praying the canonical hours at seven fixed prayer times, Oriental Orthodox Christians wash their hands and face. In liturgical churches, ablution can refer to purifying fingers or vessels related to the Eucharist. In the New Testament, washing also occurs in reference to rites of Judaism part of the action of a healing by Jesus, the preparation of a body for burial, the washing of nets by fishermen, a person's personal washing of the face to appear in public, the cleansing of an injured person's wounds, Pontius Pilate's washing of his hands as a symbolic claim of innocence and foot washing, which is a rite within the Christian Churches. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Pontius Pilate declared himself innocent of the blood of Jesus by washing his hands. This act of Pilate may not, however, have been borrowed from the custom of the Jews. The same practice was common among the Greeks and Romans.

Hygiene is a series of practices performed to preserve health. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), "Hygiene refers to conditions and practices that help to maintain health and prevent the spread of diseases." Personal hygiene refers to maintaining the body's cleanliness. Hygiene activities can be grouped into the following: home and everyday hygiene, personal hygiene, medical hygiene, sleep hygiene and food hygiene. Home and every day hygiene includes hand washing, respiratory hygiene, food hygiene at home, hygiene in the kitchen, hygiene in the bathroom, laundry hygiene and medical hygiene at home.

Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objects in it, and covering it over. A funeral is a ceremony that accompanies the final disposition. Evidence suggests that some archaic and early modern humans buried their dead. Burial is often seen as indicating respect for the dead. It has been used to prevent the odor of decay, to give family members closure and prevent them from witnessing the decomposition of their loved ones, and in many cultures it has been seen as a necessary step for the deceased to enter the afterlife or to give back to the cycle of life.

Ritual purification is the ritual prescribed by a religion by which a person is considered to be free of uncleanliness, especially prior to the worship of a deity, and ritual purity is a state of ritual cleanliness. Ritual purification may also apply to objects and places. Ritual uncleanliness is not identical with ordinary physical impurity, such as dirt stains; nevertheless, body fluids are generally considered ritually unclean.

Cleanliness is both the state of being clean and free from germs, dirt, trash, or waste, and the habit of achieving and maintaining that state. Cleanliness is often achieved through cleaning. Culturally, cleanliness is usually a good quality, as indicated by the aphorism: "Cleanliness is next to Godliness", and may be regarded as contributing to other ideals such as health and beauty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morgue</span> Place for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification or burial

A morgue or mortuary is a place used for the storage of human corpses awaiting identification (ID), removal for autopsy, respectful burial, cremation or other methods of disposal. In modern times, corpses have customarily been refrigerated to delay decomposition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ritual washing in Judaism</span> Overview of ritual washing in Judaism

In Judaism, ritual washing, or ablution, takes two main forms. Tevilah (טְבִילָה) is a full body immersion in a mikveh, and netilat yadayim is the washing of the hands with a cup.

A wake is a social gathering associated with death, held before or after a funeral. Traditionally, a wake involves family and friends keeping watch over the body of the dead person, usually in the home of the deceased. Some wakes are held at a funeral home or another convenient location. The wake or the viewing of the body is a part of death rituals in many cultures. It allows one last interaction with the dead, providing a time for the living to express their thoughts and feelings with the deceased. It highlights the idea that the loss is borne by the whole community and is a way of honoring the deceased member. The emotional tone of a wake is sometimes seen as more positive than a funeral due to the socially supportive atmosphere and the focus on the life rather than the death of the deceased.

Ghusl is an Arabic term to the full-body ritual purification mandatory before the performance of various rituals and prayers, for any adult Muslim after sexual intercourse before Friday prayer and prayers for Islamic holidays, before entering the ihram in preparation for Hajj, after having lost consciousness, and after formally converting. Sunni Muslims also perform the ablution before Salat al-Tawba "Prayer of Repentance".

Bereavement in Judaism is a combination of minhag (traditions) and mitzvah (commandments) derived from the Torah and Judaism's classical rabbinic texts. The details of observance and practice vary according to each Jewish community.

In death customs, a viewing is the time that family and friends come to see the deceased before the funeral, once the body has been prepared by a funeral home. It is generally recommended that a body first be embalmed to create the best possible presentation of the deceased. A viewing may take place at the funeral parlor, in a family home or at a place of worship, such as a church. Some cultures, such as the Māori of New Zealand, often take the body to the marae or tribal community hall.

Hindu traditions right from Ramayan to till date cremate their dear ones, burying the dead is in some sections of society. But the majority of Hindus cremate the dead as they believe that the body is made up of 5 elements which after cremation will mix in the pancha bhootas,

Antyesti literally means "last sacrifice", and refers to the funeral rites for the dead in Hinduism, which usually involves cremation of the body. This rite of passage is the last samskara in a series of traditional life cycle samskaras that start from conception in Hindu tradition. It is also referred to as Antima Sanskar, Antya-kriya, Anvarohanyya, or as Vahni Sanskara.

Funerals and funeral prayers in Islam follow fairly specific rites, though they are subject to regional interpretation and variation in custom. In all cases, however, sharia calls for burial of the body as soon as possible, preceded by a simple ritual involving bathing and shrouding the body, followed by Salat al-jinazah. Burial is usually within 24 hours of death to protect the living from any sanitary issues, except in the case of a person killed in battle or when foul play is suspected; in those cases it is important to determine the cause of death before burial. In Islam, mourning for the deceased is observed for three days by the relatives.

Among Buddhists, death is regarded as one of the occasions of major religious significance, both for the deceased and for the survivors. For the deceased, it marks the moment when the transition begins to a new mode of existence within the round of rebirths. When death occurs, all the karmic forces that the dead person accumulated during the course of their lifetime become activated and determine the next rebirth. For the living, death is a powerful reminder of the Buddha's teaching on impermanence; it also provides an opportunity to assist the deceased person as they transition to a new existence. There are several academic reviews of this subject. In Buddhism, death marks the transition from this life to the next for the deceased.

During the Pre-Hispanic period the early Filipinos believed in a concept of life after death. This belief, which stemmed from indigenous ancestral veneration and was strengthened by strong family and community relations within tribes, prompted the Filipinos to create burial customs to honor the dead through prayers and rituals. Due to different cultures from various regions of the Philippines, many different burial practices have emerged. For example, the Manobos buried their dead in trees, the Ifugaos seated the corpse on a chari before it was brought to a cave and buried elsewhere. The most common forms of traditional burials are supine pits, earthenware jars, and log coffins, and have been a topic of interest among Philippine archaeologists since the early 20th century.

Ancient Greek funerary practices are attested widely in literature, the archaeological record, and in ancient Greek art. Finds associated with burials are an important source for ancient Greek culture, though Greek funerals are not as well documented as those of the ancient Romans.

Thai funerals usually follow Buddhist funerary rites, with variations in practice depending on the culture of the region. People of certain religious and ethnic groups also have their own specific practices. Thai Buddhist funerals generally consist of a bathing ceremony shortly after death, daily chanting by Buddhist monks, and a cremation ceremony. Cremation is practised by most peoples throughout the country, with the major exceptions being ethnic Chinese, Muslims and Christians.

References

↑ "Login Page".
↑ Online Etymology Dictionary
↑ Rana, D., & Upton, D. (2009). Psychology for nurses. Essex, UK: Pearson
↑ Christine Quigley (1 January 2005). The Corpse: A History. McFarland. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-0-7864-2449-8.
↑ Paul Vitello (December 12, 2010). "Reviving a Ritual of Tending to the Dead". The New York Times.
↑ Carlos M. N. Eire (25 July 2002). From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth-Century Spain. Cambridge University Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-521-52942-6.
↑ Bryant, Clifton D., ed. (2003). Handbook of Death and Dying . Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. p. 664. ISBN 9780761925149.
↑ Klaus K. Klostermaier (10 March 2010). A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition. SUNY Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-7914-8011-3.
↑ Reshma Memon Yaqub (March 21, 2010). "The Washing: In the Muslim custom of bathing the dead, she found a deep sense of reward -- and shaved off 40 sins". The Washington Post.
↑ Mercedes Bern-Klug (13 August 2013). Transforming Palliative Care in Nursing Homes: The Social Work Role. Columbia University Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-231-50707-3.
↑ Suad Joseph; Afsāna Naǧmābādī (2003). Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, Body, Sexuality And Health. BRILL. p. 125. ISBN 90-04-12819-0.
↑ Mary Beth Griggs (July 31, 2014). "The Difficulty of Burying Ebola's Victims". Smithsonian.com.
↑ Willy Jansen. "Women without men: gender and marginality in an Algerian town". Netherlands: E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1987. ( ISBN 90-04-08345-6)
↑ Reginald Gibbons (26 April 2003). Antigone. Oxford University Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-19-984020-5.
↑ Katherine Ashenburg (8 April 2014). The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-1-4668-6776-5.

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[1] "Login Page".

[2] Online Etymology Dictionary

[3] Rana, D., & Upton, D. (2009). Psychology for nurses. Essex, UK: Pearson

[Quigley2005-4] Christine Quigley (1 January 2005). The Corpse: A History. McFarland. pp. 52–53. ISBN 978-0-7864-2449-8.

[5] Paul Vitello (December 12, 2010). "Reviving a Ritual of Tending to the Dead". The New York Times.

[Eire2002-6] Carlos M. N. Eire (25 July 2002). From Madrid to Purgatory: The Art and Craft of Dying in Sixteenth-Century Spain. Cambridge University Press. p. 86. ISBN 978-0-521-52942-6.

[7] Bryant, Clifton D., ed. (2003). Handbook of Death and Dying . Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications. p. 664. ISBN 9780761925149.

[Klostermaier2010-8] Klaus K. Klostermaier (10 March 2010). A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition. SUNY Press. p. 153. ISBN 978-0-7914-8011-3.

[9] Reshma Memon Yaqub (March 21, 2010). "The Washing: In the Muslim custom of bathing the dead, she found a deep sense of reward -- and shaved off 40 sins". The Washington Post.

[Bern-Klug2013-10] Mercedes Bern-Klug (13 August 2013). Transforming Palliative Care in Nursing Homes: The Social Work Role. Columbia University Press. p. 262. ISBN 978-0-231-50707-3.

[JosephNaǧmābādī2003-11] Suad Joseph; Afsāna Naǧmābādī (2003). Encyclopedia of Women & Islamic Cultures: Family, Body, Sexuality And Health. BRILL. p. 125. ISBN 90-04-12819-0.

[12] Mary Beth Griggs (July 31, 2014). "The Difficulty of Burying Ebola's Victims". Smithsonian.com.

[13] Willy Jansen. "Women without men: gender and marginality in an Algerian town". Netherlands: E. J. Brill, Leiden, 1987. ( ISBN 90-04-08345-6)

[Gibbons2003-14] Reginald Gibbons (26 April 2003). Antigone. Oxford University Press. p. 186. ISBN 978-0-19-984020-5.

[Ashenburg2014-15] Katherine Ashenburg (8 April 2014). The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. pp. 9–10. ISBN 978-1-4668-6776-5.

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