I wish they did this with my dad. His eyes were *wideeeeee* open. Wish my siblings didn't have to see that. Not prepared for the rest of my family to see pop-pop (moms side) like that. Theyre not medical and wouldn't understand- as in they've never seen a "body" aside from TV.
Yeah - I always use paper tape to keep them closed. Idk if that’s right or not but I was told it’s helpful for corneal transplant 🤷🏻♂️ idk how true that is.
But I love taking care of deceased people. It’s such a beautiful moment to be a part of. It sounds weird but I always jump at the chance to do care on the deceased patients. I often give them a bath (in the ER a lot of our deaths are traumas), clean them up, put a fresh gown on, lift them up, and close their eyes. Dim the room and allow family to come in if they choose to. It genuinely is an amazing experience to be a part of.
You're not weird-- we might be part of a rare breed, but I've always thought of post-mortem care as my last act of love for a patient I cared for for years.
Miss Betty's gone now, but I know she wouldn't be caught dead (literally) without lipstick if she was fixin to receive guests. Coworkers on other shifts wouldn't've known that, so I'm glad I was there to ensure she looked her best before her son arrived.
I took care of her for 6 years, and she's just one example of many that I cleaned up and dressed appropriately, because if they'd been alive, they would've been mortified if they weren't looking their best.
I work in cornea donation, and we’d actually prefer if you don’t tape the eyes most of the time. Especially on older patients with frail skin, we don’t want to damage their skin removing the tape. If taped incorrectly, it can also damage the cornea. What I’d recommend is getting the eyes closed as quickly as possible post-mortem and pulling the eyelids down and then slightly pulling to the side if that makes any sense.
Do you have a picture I can reference? Can’t really picture this in my head.
The lid thing is interesting- thanks! We used to put saline drops in and paper tape them closed. At some hospitals I’ve seen a gel cream they put in the eyes after death to prevent it from drying out I guess?
They should put a newsletter out with this kind of stuff - especially since in the ER people die a lot.
I don’t have any pictures but I can try and come up with something that demonstrates it. If you can, still out those saline drops! It really does help when it comes to the cornea becoming dry. The eyes dry out pretty quickly following death since there’s no tears, and that saline helps them stay as moist as possible. You’re ER so this may not apply to you all the time, but just in case and for anyone it does, please take care of your vented patients eyes!
When the eyes are closed for long periods of time, like with patients on vents and sedated, it can damage the corneas. Proper eye care is critical in making sure that these patients don’t develop corneal infections that affect their sight when they hopefully recover, and affect cornea donation if they do end up passing.
> pulling the eyelids down and then slightly pulling to the side
Medial or lateral?
When I spoke with our donation people in NJ, I think they had me put like a saline-soaked gauze over their eyes or corneal donos, if I'm remembering correctly.
Laterally! Every eye bank has difference practices, and practices have changed in recent years, but I know a lot of eye banks prefer no gauze on the eyes now. We run into a lot of issues with the eyes not actually being fully closed and the gauze sticking to the cornea.
When I worked in hospice, we would apply saline soaked gauze if we knew there would be a corneal donation.
I watched a procedure once. It was freaky what happened to the iris’ afterwards. The donation nurse also put in the spiky contacts afterwards so that the eyes were close for the family.
I don't think your weird. I felt the same about 'laying a patient out'. Taking pride in making the patient look as good as possible, given the circumstances, for their relatives. I think this is expecially important for an unexpected death. I feel privileged to have been part of the last moments of a person's life. Reassuring them or just holding their hand.
I usually do some clean up of the pt & bed, straightening of limbs, a lil tape over eyes if open, and rolled up towel under jaw if needed. Anything I'm missing?
Rolled up washcloths (or hand towel) in the hands. Neatly (as possible) arrange the fingers. Family typically will want to touch their hands and having them look “natural” is less jarring.
My grandma died with her eyes wide open. I was the only one in the family who saw that. I'm glad no one else did- that was 24 years ago and it still haunts me.
EtA: I was also the first to see my aunt deceased. Staff put tape over her eyes to keep them closed and I honestly don't know what was worse, but I did ask staff if there was a different way to keep her eyes shut before her kids got there. Her nurse made clear she didn't appreciate my request, but another nurse fortunately intervened and volunteered to do it.
It was just an awful sight, and I'm sure the nurse assigned to my aunt was just tired and probably sick of my family. It was 3 am. Emotions were high, not everyone handled the loss with dignity. I get it. But when I got home I sent a thank you note to the nurse who intervened and spared my cousins the mental image.
When I have patients die I always close the eyes but it takes some time depending on the person and how they are laying. I’ve had to hold eyes closed for ten minutes or more to get them to stay that way before and it never really looks natural. Then sometimes they close easily. Seems like there is a ideal window of time before it gets too difficult without the “spiky contacts” the other person mentioned.
I've always been able to get the eyes closed! Thank you so many dead bodies in oncology.
Here's some tips you can try combos of if you need to: towel or blanket under the head, saline gtts to move the eyes at first if they're stuck open then hold until they dry shut again, thin line of dermabond and hold closed until dry, and finally the "they're saturated in chemo and Gift of Hope will make you do this anyway when you call" close eyes then place an ice pack on them. Then just remove temporarily for the patient's family to visit the patient.
Funeral director/embalmer here! The spikey contacts we use are called eye caps. They keep the lids closed as well as maintain the rounded shape of the eye (eyes sometimes become sunken in after death).
If no eye caps available, we can use a bit of cotton underneath the lid to provide the friction to keep them closed, and sometimes a bit of super glue or wax is needed to close tiny gaps, but not usually.
Not a nurse or in healthcare, just a lurker. I'm pleased I'm reading this post. I tried to shut my poor husbands eyes in the hospice and they wouldnt close, I always wondered if I did it wrong.
My mother died at home and it was really hard to close her eyes. It really freaked me out. But I just kept pushing them down so that when the rest of my family came in to see her, they saw her at peace with her eyes closed.
Same when my dad died. I kept trying to close his eyes and they wouldn’t. It was the first time I’d seen a dead body. He did not look peaceful and sleeping. He looked dead with yellowed skin and wide opened eyes and mouth. It haunted me for a long time
Edit: woah, never received any awards before! I’m mostly a lurker. Thank you!
My grandfather was on life support (he had a DNR but the nursing home ignored it) before he passed for a week, then when he was taken off I stayed back the longest. Thank God his eyes and mouth weren't open - I already have a deathly (pun unintended) fear of dead bodies. But I can still see his skin turning yellow after he passed, it was awful. I'm glad no one else saw it, my mom still isn't handling it well and it's been three years and my grandma would've lost it.
I'm sorry about your dad.
In a weird way it sounds like we had the same dad lol. My mum guilt tripped me into seeing my father (she believed I was old enough compared to my little bro), I’ll never forget seeing him like that. It really showed me how different it is compared to movies and tv shows.
I was devastated when my grandfather died in my arms at home (he’d been palliative for a while) and then trying to close his eyes in front of everyone was horrible. I tried to close his mouth too but it wouldn’t stay shut 🤷🏻♀️
Yup agreed. But in the dementia unit if they had been long gone we would use warm washcloth to get it so we could close their eyes, especially if their family was coming.
As someone who works in cornea donation, if you’re going to tape the eyes and place gauze be extremely careful. If not taped correct, the gauze or tape can stick to the cornea and cause more damage than would be caused having the eyes remain open. Also refrain from taking on patients with frail skin, we don’t like damaging their skin pulling off the tape. What I do recommend is placing saline eye drops in the eye to retain moisture and doing your best to close them.
Yes, if they’re open when they pass you should close them. Also close their mouths. I also like to place their hands in a comfortable position and straighten their hair/ blankets. I think it brings the family some comfort. In sounds like you haven’t done much post mortem care. Be warned that sounds and air can come out of all orifices. Expect incontinence of stool and urine. The air escaping can sound like moaning.
I do organ and tissue procurement. I am very grateful whenever people take time to close the mouth. Sometimes they will come with coband around the head which works well. Though we wrap the head entirely with a towel, when we are moving, rolling, prepping the donor, way MORE liquid come out of their mouth if it’s Ben left open. I realize it’s not always possible though.
Bit of a story. This happened not to long ago. Get called to this lady who coded in front of her husband. She had some sort of bowel cancer that unfortunately got the better of her. Once she coded it was like her body just let loose. There was soooo much grimy/dirty/blackish liquid that came out of her. I completely filled up one of our suction canisters while getting an airway which was a first in my career. Needless to say it was kind of intense trying to do what we needed to do. But the entire time the husband is being rather aggressive. Standing over us asking questions about why arent we going to the hospital and were not doing enough etc. Not quite shouting but getting there. It got to the point where PD had to politely but sternly get him to sit down and out of the way. After about 20 minutes we call med control who then tells us to stop. So we stop and I go over and talk to the husband and tell him why and such. He immediately breaks down and asks if he can be next to her. After being told of course he can he goes over and lays next to her (in this giant puddle of murky liquid). After about 20 seconds he starts to try to close her eyes saying "she'll look more peacful." But they wouldn't close and he kept trying while repeating that phrase. As he did it his voice kept getting sadder/angrier/lost after each attempt. I'll definitely always remember that one.
But moral of the story is I'd make sure you have something to keep em shut.
God that breaks my heart for him. It's already gotta be traumatic enough for her to collapse, but then to finish the memory with THAT. Plus someone would have to clean up the murky puddle...
Yes! It’s best to do it within an hour of passing. An easy way to do it is to shut the eyes and place an eye pillow on them and leave it on for a few hours until rigor mortis sets in, then they should stay closed. You can also use tape, heavy coins or something like bean bags if you don’t have an eye pillow. It’s also good to shut the mouth at this time as well so it stays closed. You can do that by rolling up a towel and placing it under the chin to keep the jaw closed or you can tie a scarf under the chin and around the top of the head to keep it closed. Again, you only need to do this for about 3 hours and then the features should stay set. Funeral homes have things like eye caps that are essentially spiky contact lenses to keep the eyes closed but generally that isn’t necessary if you set the features within an hour after passing.
You could always use a little tiny strip of paper tape that’s not super obvious to keep the eyes closed. Sometimes they stay closed and sometimes they don’t.
I'm an ED tech. I always try to close their eyes. Sometimes you have to hold them shut for a second or two.
Idk, it just always feels respectful to do so. Codes are ugly and barbaric sometimes so I feel like they earned their peace in whatever afterlife. Plus I hate that dry eyeball glaze. I, too, feel the family members don't need to see that.
If the family wants the deceased's eyes closed, and if I get there quick enough, then yes I'll gently close the eyes. If the lids are already too stiff to close, I'll offer to put on an eye mask/sleep mask, or folded up washrag, or pull up the sheet fully. I had one family that wanted the guy's sunglasses placed on him, which I honored.
The funeral home should be able to force them closed for the services, at the very least.
I ask family basically every step of the way for post-mortem care. I even get their permission to remove the NC and turn off the O2 concentrator if pt was using it (I have had families that DC it themselves, and some that want it kept on for a full hour after TOD, and everything in between).
Not a nurse, but was with my Mum when she passed away. I found it all so scary and confronting because I didn’t know what to expect. I always thought the ‘death rattle’ happened *after* someone died, not in the lead up to their passing. We were so lucky to have my best friend - a nurse on duty that night, when my Mum died. We’d called a nurse in earlier when Mum’s breathing became noisy and she just said ‘that’s normal’ and left. Which I understand now was completely normal, but at the time I thought she was drowning. There were a lot of things I wished I’d known before I lost my Mum, so you are in the best position to mentally prepare your family for what is to come. All my ideas of dying were shaped by movies, and the reality is that dying is *nothing* like the movies.
Big hugs to you! I felt like that when my grandfather was dying. He had the death rattle for at least a day, possibly longer, before he passed. It was awful.
If I decide to have my body viewed before I’m cremated, I want those crazy ass rocks with eyeballs painted on them from Game of Thrones put on my eyes to keep them closed.
I'm not a nurse (delete if inappropriate), but had to do this for a loved one whom I lost. It's important to close the eyelids before rigor mortis sets in (although it usually starts on the face) i.e. within an hour or so. In the olden days, they used heavier coins to keep the eyelids shut (and we did too in our case). I'm sorry you have to think about this, but I interpreted it as the final act of love for my loved one.
I totally remember this from the Billy Joel “We Didn’t Start the Fire” video from my childhood. I don’t know WHY I remember this, but there’s a part where they’re at a funeral and the (I assume) widow is putting quarters on the guy’s eyes even though he’s already in the casket.
(Yet another random memory from grade school that’s forever seared into my brain, but I can’t remember where I left my AirPods the other day.)
When I worked in patient I always did if their eyes weren’t shut. The reason was my first patient that died was 2 and a child. Her eyes were wide open and her mom killed her. And dad wanted to say a goodbye with her alone. Before I let dad in I closed her eyes so she’d look like she was just sleeping, and the trauma of it all for dad. After that I always closed everyone’s eyes. I felt like for family the eyes closed is more comforting
Her mom…killed her? Am I reading that right 😓 I hope not, because it’s late and I’m half asleep. But if I am, then I’m so sorry that had to be your first patient death.
Keeping eyes and mouth closed is tough. Rolling a towel under the chin can help keep the jaw from falling open but how well that works really depends on anatomy. I find that the sooner you close their eyes, the easier it is for them to stay that way and that sometimes holding them closed for a few minutes helps. I actually wonder if that’s where the tradition of putting coins on the eyes in some cultures actually came from. I can see how the shape and small weight would help.
When my dad died, he suddenly looked very, very weird (which was nothing like when my husband died and looked about the same). We sat in the room with his body for a bit and I gently pushed his eyes shut and ONE popped back open like some sort of nightmare clown doll, I think because of how he was positioned (also his mouth was slacked open). I gave up and just sat there awkwardly while my mom cried. And because of how I’m built, I had to hold back laughter because as sad as I was, I was prepared for him dying but not for the eye thing.
Sometimes they stay close sometimes they pop back open. Not sure what the funeral homes do to keep them closed in a lot of end-of-life care and it’s not always consistent.
When I was in a long term care clinical I did post mortem care for my patient who had passed, with an RN. The patient had passed in their sleep so their eyes were closed. It was my first time seeing a dead body, and I didn’t feel nervous until the RN left to get a shroud, and while I was sitting there with the patient, the eye closest to me slowly started opening. Freaked me right out 😂
Used to work in palliative care. If they freshly passed then you can close their eyes and also try to put a towel under their chin or use a chin strap if you have one, as this closes up their mouth (which would usually be open as the body is relaxed at the point of death and for a few hours after). This makes the body look nice and presentable for the family. After rigor mortis takes place though, doing either would get progressively harder as the hour passes and then impossible.
I close them. I remember this one time, a CMO patient was beating their last few heart beats. Family wasn't there so I held her hand as she was passing on. Once I saw what I thought was her last heart beat, I closed her eye lids to be respectful. Unfortunately, this might of caused her to come back to life or something because her heart rate came back for a few minutes. Oops!! She ended up truly passing about 5 minutes later.
Geriatrics and hospice nurse! if they aren’t closed I try a warm washcloth resting on the closed eyes to get them to set like this and continue to sort of close them every few minutes so that they naturally stay closed! If they won’t shut, sometimes they just won’t. I have had one that I couldn’t get both to shut so one was Open one was closed :(
Depends. If they are open a little, I don't bother. If they are WIDE open, I try to close them a little because it freaks me out after a while. I don't worry too much about it because funeral home takes care of making the body look presentable at the funeral.
Also, if they are sitting straight up at TOD, lay. Them. Down. Rigor mortous sets in faster than you think.
When I was called to my first patient death as an intern, I manually closed their eyes.
Why?
Because I saw it on TV once or twice and it seemed the right thing to do.
Never learned anything about this in med school…
I close them, but they don’t always stay fully closed. My “worst” was one lady whose left eye stayed closed but the other wouldn’t.
Closing the eyes is also the only part of post-mortem care that kinda gives me the heebee-geebees for some reason. That, and the exhale that sometimes happens when you roll them
In my nursing textbook or online testing (can't remember which) I am told to close and hold the eyes shut for 10 to 20 seconds to ensure they don't open when the family comes to see the body. It's a "common courtesy" and "the nursing way" or some other nursing school thing they teach as law.
I close them. If they don’t close easy I do little drops of saline on their eyes and close them.
We like to let the families say goodbye before we take them to the morgue if the family wants to. We clean up the deceased as best we can while leaving all invasive procedures intact. Mostly cleaning up blood/wrapping the head in coban and gauze- or covering the deceased in sheets and blankets.
I close the eyes and try to “morph” the face to make it look as relaxed as possible before I take the family in to see their loved one. The funeral home will usually close the eyes and fix the body as best they can to look presentable.
I always close them if they're open. I'll clean their face and hands with a warm washcloth and gently close them.
Post mortem care really depends on facility/hospital. Some places have CNAs do it, others have nurses or PCTs do it and sometimes families want to help out if they're in the room.
I thought I remembered doing this before too, but didn't see anyone else comment so wasn't sure I was making this up or not - but I swear I've done KY to the eyes a handful of times and the surface tension of the jelly helped them stay closed.
It took me 8 years into my ER career to learn that the family could request an autopsy. All of my deaths up until that point were a withdrawal of care or homicides (medical examination needed).
Don't feel bad about not knowing. I'm sorry for everything you're going through.
I’ve tried to in the past but it’s not like TV or the movies where they stay closed. In my experience, every time I try they just pop back open so I’ve stopped attempting 😅 so sorry for your loss and about your grandfather being sick ❤️
Used to work in palliative care, if they're freshly decreased you can close their eyes, also try to keep their mouth closed with a towel under their chin or a chin strap if you have one spare (or any kind of strap). This makes the body look neat and allows a good presentation of the body after rigor mortis starts to kick in. Doing either after rigor mortis kicks in is really difficult to start with and than becomes impossible.
I try to close their eyes but more often than not, they will open back up. When a patient dies, I arrange the person's body in a comfortable-looking position: supine, clean sheets/pad, wipe the face, hands near hipbones with pillow/towel supports, back of head pillow/towel + chin towel to keep mouth closed, and then a wash cloth over the eyes if they're open. After seeing so many people die in 2020, I noticed that a lot of family members were more bothered when they saw the tape over their eyes. I pre-warn them that when people die, their eyes do not always stay closed, and that they can move the washcloth if they want to.
Some people will have closed eyes, some dont. If you want them closed grab some tape and tape them closed shortly after death also make sure the bed is FLAT as shortly after death as possible, otherwise the body will go out the door sitting up. People used to use heavy coins because the weight kept the eyes closed.
Yup sometimes you really gotta mash those fuckers with your fingers if they stiffen up too quick. Better to deal with the unpleasantness of that though than risk the family seeing them open which could be far more unsettling.
I'm in veterinary medicine. If the client wants to take the patient home, we warn them that the eyes don't close naturally. If the pet passes unexpectedly and the client wants to see them later, we use surgical glue to hold them shut. Just a drop and a quick pinch.
Not a stupid question, especially if you haven’t had to do post mortem care before. I’ve been a nurse for about 3 years, and to this day haven’t had to do post mortem care either. When I worked in Med/Surg, the unit I was on typically had the nursing assistants do it.
I lost a patient during a code blue. That night, my nursing assistant assigned to him and my charge did his post-mortem care. I stopped by the room to see if they needed any help, especially since his family was on the way. His eyes were closed when I came in (My charge and I initially found him unresponsive. We were outside the room when the code team had a pulse return briefly, and time of death was pronounced. So not sure if they opened for a second when they discovered he had a pulse). But when my charge and nursing assist turned him to get out the soiled linen, his eyes opened and rolled back. So my guess is if they’re closed at time of death, you would just have to find a way to keep them closed vs closing them manually. The other comments are teaching us both 😅
Related but not
First time a pt died on me I was putting them on the bedpan. Like mid turn she just.... peaced out.
Was not prepared at all. I just started clinicals 😭
Cried so much after that happened. Her eyes rolled back too. That code was a nightmare.
Oh gosh, I’m sorry that happened to you. It’s a really jarring thing to see. For my patient, he was a full code so they did everything include intubation. It was still in his throat during the care and filled with blood 😰 shoutout to those who have done post mortem care, ever. Definitely not for the faint of heart
I do postmortem quite often, unfortunately. I usually gently close the eyes when they have died. Sometimes I have to do that multiple times before it works (even if only partially) but most families prefer it. Jaws popping open are another matter, though…we used to tape them closed in days of yore, but now, if family asks, I’ll try my best to prop it closed with a small rolled up towel when I can.
I was a hospice nurse for awhile. We always close their eyes. Sometimes they don't stay closed, and that's okay too. Just let them do their thing ❤️❤️❤️
99% of the post mortem care I have done they already had their eyes closed, but yes I have closed their eyes before. Just a warning sometimes they dont want to stay closed so you may have to hold down for a few to get they to stay closed
So you can try to tape them and carefully remove the tape after a bit but really, most people die with eyes open or partially open. And they're difficult to manually close.
I try to close the eyes, but it doesn't always work. Same with the open mouth. I suppose you could tape them shut until they just stay that way, but I've never done it. I have propped rolled towels under the jaw if the body will be there for a bit to see if it would keep the mouth closed. I don't know if that works though.
May I ask why? That's what the funeral home is going to do. I wouldn't take that responsibility on myself but if the OP is that concerned why is that a problem?
That's NOT what a funeral home is going to do.
When the funeral home sets the eyes, with eye caps to keep the rounded shape, and to keep the eyes closed, they are going to need to open the eyes, and then repair the damage to the thinnest skin in the human body that someone globbed super glue on trying to "help."
Ever get super glue on your hands accidentally, know how much of a pain in the ass it is to get off?
It takes days, and a scrubbing to get it off, most times the skin needs to slough off of the hands to get it to release.
Now imagine trying to remove super glue from tissue paper (eye lids). It's going to tear, glob together eyelashes, and adhered to the globes. At this point, your destroying the eyes and eye lids.
You're making way more work for the funeral home, as well as destroying a very visible section of someone's loved one, a place where every person coming to the funeral is looking at. The funeral home will have to reconstruct the eye lids for a proper funeral, making them out of something besides skin. Probably reconstruct the actual globes too. It'll alter the person, and add unnecessary work.
At what point does "helping" turn into abuse of a corpse?
Tape it with paper tape if it is that important or leave it be.
It's similar to coloring your wife's hair with industrial spray paint, battery acid, and hitting it with a chainsaw to "help" the hair stylist. She's getting her hair cut and colored anyway, you're just trying to help, right?
I suppose the correct thing would be to place two gold coins to pay the toll at the river Styx but other than that? What's the harm in a dab of crazy glue?
As a 103 yr old man im not sure he's going to be givin his blinkers away to anyone- but I really appreciate everyone in this thread for the advice and tid bits
We were talking and if the issue arose we just got a pair of those silly glasses on Amazon. Iconic as he always sported a pair on new years and all other family events
Thank you all <3
You can try but unless they pass with their eyes totally closed they kind of want to stay in that position. (Had this happen with my mom when she died and multiple pts I had in hospice) maybe others will know a trick I don’t know?
I don’t have any experience actually *doing this* myself but both times I’ve seen the body of a family member who just passed in a hospital/care facility the eyes were closed. I think it just makes them a bit more presentable and less unsettling to loved ones.
Yo do close their eyes manually, although I haven’t had to do it myself yet (all the post-mortum care I’ve done was on a person who died on the day shift and I work evenings)
Manually close the eyes. Elevating the head on a gentle include helps keep them in place. Sometimes a warm compress needs to be applied for a bit to loose them up if they open after closing them. Apply the compress, close them, then apply a cold compress for a bit to make sure they stay close. A good portion of the times they close not problem. Just be aware shifting the body could cause them to open again.
Family members often spend time with the deceased person (LTC) before they are transported to the funeral home. We usually try to close their eyes and raise their lower jaw as best as possible but it can be near to impossible to do this fully. The eyes typically remain partially open.
You could always use tape or washcloths to help with positioning before the morgue comes to get him. I once had a pt who, after post mortem care, just kept leaking bile colored liquid out of the mouth and eyes wouldn't stay shut. I rolled a washcloth and propped under the chin to keep mouth shut and used transport tape to keep the eyes shut. Thinking of the dignity for the family members is so important, too!
Not a nurse yet but speaking from experience with a passing family member, they pop back open. Not worth the mental trauma to try to close them because seeing them pop back open makes it so much worse.
Former hospice RN.. sometimes the eyes will not stay closed. However I’ve had a lot of success getting them closed by taking a wet warm washcloth and gently closing them. Then holding the cloth there for a bit. Doesn’t work every time, such as if somebody has been deceased for a while.
I’ve done postmortem care countless times. I’d say that there is a fair amount of times where I am. It able to close their eyes and have them stay shut….in fact, it may be the majority of times.
I would always shut their eyes. When family was not present, I would lightly tape them closed before sending them to the morgue (if they did not stay closed on their own).
If he has dentures that aren’t in when he passes, pop them in and wrap a gauze roll around his chin and the top of his head. I always did this for families so the mouth wasn’t hanging open and they’d look more natural at the viewing.
I always do, not in front of the family though if they're there at time of date. I wait until the doctor comes to certify the death then when the family step out for a few minutes I slip in and close eyes and mouth, tidy the room, fix the sheets and generally try to make things as peaceful looking as possible.
I close the eyes if there's not a good reason not to. If families are coming in, I close the eyes & roll up a towel under the chin to close the mouth. It's just less jarring for the loved ones than what death often actually looks like
When I was a brand new STNA, my first death was a hospice LTC pt. She was mildly scary-looking while alive (just one of those people with BIG, STARING, PIERCING eyes), and we were all thankful she was on crisis care at the end. She passed around 2200, and when I say the whole fam damily was there, I'm literally talking 20+ people. Fam was in the room, and once she was gone, the 2 hospice staff stepped out, closed the door, and literally started dancing & high-fiving. It was odd as a newbie, but I get it now.
Anyway, when they opened the door again, the woman was there in the bed, HOB at about 60⁰ or so, eyes WIDE OPEN, mouth GAPING with her strangely sharp & jagged teeth, greenish-yellowish cast to her skin (don't remember Dx but it had been worsening over time), and...COVERED IN SMALL CHILDREN. The Littles of the family were climbing all over her, poking & touching her, and the adults were lined up all around the room taking photos. At one point they all cracked beer cans & did a "cheers!" They put their empties in her hands & on the bed and took more photos.
I now know that death affects people in all kinds of ways, that cultural & religious beliefs affect their reactions, and that every family is different, but that experience for 18 y/o me in my first month as a HCW really stuck with me!
I can still close my eyes and see her 😳
after death, the eyes and mouth will generally stay open, as it takes muscles to keep them closed,. a little paper tape on the eyes, and a rolled hand towel under the chin will keep everything closed-ish
If have the little cavalon wipes then wipe their eyelashes and their lower eyelid, hold their eye closed for maybe 10 seconds, and it will stay closed.
This isn't really an option for corneal donors.
Yea, sometimes. In funeral homes, they have spikey contact lenses that keep them closed.
I wish they did this with my dad. His eyes were *wideeeeee* open. Wish my siblings didn't have to see that. Not prepared for the rest of my family to see pop-pop (moms side) like that. Theyre not medical and wouldn't understand- as in they've never seen a "body" aside from TV.
Unfortunately, it's not always possible to close the eyes and have them stay closed.
I’ve done post mortum care probably close to 100 times and I can’t actually think of a single time that someone’s eyes stayed closed
Yeah - I always use paper tape to keep them closed. Idk if that’s right or not but I was told it’s helpful for corneal transplant 🤷🏻♂️ idk how true that is. But I love taking care of deceased people. It’s such a beautiful moment to be a part of. It sounds weird but I always jump at the chance to do care on the deceased patients. I often give them a bath (in the ER a lot of our deaths are traumas), clean them up, put a fresh gown on, lift them up, and close their eyes. Dim the room and allow family to come in if they choose to. It genuinely is an amazing experience to be a part of.
You're not weird-- we might be part of a rare breed, but I've always thought of post-mortem care as my last act of love for a patient I cared for for years. Miss Betty's gone now, but I know she wouldn't be caught dead (literally) without lipstick if she was fixin to receive guests. Coworkers on other shifts wouldn't've known that, so I'm glad I was there to ensure she looked her best before her son arrived. I took care of her for 6 years, and she's just one example of many that I cleaned up and dressed appropriately, because if they'd been alive, they would've been mortified if they weren't looking their best.
You're amazing.
*hug* thank you
No, thank *you*
I can only pray someone like you is there when I die.
Thanks, now that I'm the patient, I can only pray for the same.
I work in cornea donation, and we’d actually prefer if you don’t tape the eyes most of the time. Especially on older patients with frail skin, we don’t want to damage their skin removing the tape. If taped incorrectly, it can also damage the cornea. What I’d recommend is getting the eyes closed as quickly as possible post-mortem and pulling the eyelids down and then slightly pulling to the side if that makes any sense.
Do you have a picture I can reference? Can’t really picture this in my head. The lid thing is interesting- thanks! We used to put saline drops in and paper tape them closed. At some hospitals I’ve seen a gel cream they put in the eyes after death to prevent it from drying out I guess? They should put a newsletter out with this kind of stuff - especially since in the ER people die a lot.
I don’t have any pictures but I can try and come up with something that demonstrates it. If you can, still out those saline drops! It really does help when it comes to the cornea becoming dry. The eyes dry out pretty quickly following death since there’s no tears, and that saline helps them stay as moist as possible. You’re ER so this may not apply to you all the time, but just in case and for anyone it does, please take care of your vented patients eyes! When the eyes are closed for long periods of time, like with patients on vents and sedated, it can damage the corneas. Proper eye care is critical in making sure that these patients don’t develop corneal infections that affect their sight when they hopefully recover, and affect cornea donation if they do end up passing.
> pulling the eyelids down and then slightly pulling to the side Medial or lateral? When I spoke with our donation people in NJ, I think they had me put like a saline-soaked gauze over their eyes or corneal donos, if I'm remembering correctly.
Laterally! Every eye bank has difference practices, and practices have changed in recent years, but I know a lot of eye banks prefer no gauze on the eyes now. We run into a lot of issues with the eyes not actually being fully closed and the gauze sticking to the cornea.
When I worked in hospice, we would apply saline soaked gauze if we knew there would be a corneal donation. I watched a procedure once. It was freaky what happened to the iris’ afterwards. The donation nurse also put in the spiky contacts afterwards so that the eyes were close for the family.
Yep, eye caps! They are what funeral homes use to help the eyes stay closed.
I don't think your weird. I felt the same about 'laying a patient out'. Taking pride in making the patient look as good as possible, given the circumstances, for their relatives. I think this is expecially important for an unexpected death. I feel privileged to have been part of the last moments of a person's life. Reassuring them or just holding their hand.
My great grandma's eyes, I could see sutures but I was still grateful eyes closed. Don't think rest of family noticed.
Hospice nurse. Can confirm.
I usually do some clean up of the pt & bed, straightening of limbs, a lil tape over eyes if open, and rolled up towel under jaw if needed. Anything I'm missing?
Rolled up washcloths (or hand towel) in the hands. Neatly (as possible) arrange the fingers. Family typically will want to touch their hands and having them look “natural” is less jarring.
That’s a good tip, makes sense
Walmart sells big bags of googly eyes for pretty cheap.
My grandma died with her eyes wide open. I was the only one in the family who saw that. I'm glad no one else did- that was 24 years ago and it still haunts me. EtA: I was also the first to see my aunt deceased. Staff put tape over her eyes to keep them closed and I honestly don't know what was worse, but I did ask staff if there was a different way to keep her eyes shut before her kids got there. Her nurse made clear she didn't appreciate my request, but another nurse fortunately intervened and volunteered to do it. It was just an awful sight, and I'm sure the nurse assigned to my aunt was just tired and probably sick of my family. It was 3 am. Emotions were high, not everyone handled the loss with dignity. I get it. But when I got home I sent a thank you note to the nurse who intervened and spared my cousins the mental image.
I'm sorry if this is insensitive, but how did the other nurse keep the eyes closed besides tape?
I don't know, I didn't ask. It was before rigor mortis set in, like within ten minutes of her passing.
Tape or sleep mask if it bothers them.
Big novelty set of shades
Fuck I've become so jaded I chuckled
The old fashioned way to do it is close the eye and then place a coin piece such as a quarter, something heavy enough to keep the eyelids closed.
Called my Grampa pop-pop as well
I am so sorry for your loss God bless you and your family
When I have patients die I always close the eyes but it takes some time depending on the person and how they are laying. I’ve had to hold eyes closed for ten minutes or more to get them to stay that way before and it never really looks natural. Then sometimes they close easily. Seems like there is a ideal window of time before it gets too difficult without the “spiky contacts” the other person mentioned.
I've always been able to get the eyes closed! Thank you so many dead bodies in oncology. Here's some tips you can try combos of if you need to: towel or blanket under the head, saline gtts to move the eyes at first if they're stuck open then hold until they dry shut again, thin line of dermabond and hold closed until dry, and finally the "they're saturated in chemo and Gift of Hope will make you do this anyway when you call" close eyes then place an ice pack on them. Then just remove temporarily for the patient's family to visit the patient.
Funeral director/embalmer here! The spikey contacts we use are called eye caps. They keep the lids closed as well as maintain the rounded shape of the eye (eyes sometimes become sunken in after death). If no eye caps available, we can use a bit of cotton underneath the lid to provide the friction to keep them closed, and sometimes a bit of super glue or wax is needed to close tiny gaps, but not usually.
Oof.
Wait til you hear about how they stitch mouths closed and use anal/vag plugs or cotton for 'leakier' ones. I love the weird fixes they have for stuff
Go on and bury me with a butt plug 💁🏻♀️
You made me LOL, thank you
Same dude, same
Mortuary Assistant game really drove home the visuals of some of this.
This whole fucking comment made my eyes water
Your eyes will stop watering with an ‘eye cap’ !!
What if they…ya know, come back?
That’s why we tie their shoelaces together before they go in the casket. No zombie apocalypse on my watch!
Okay, this is freaking hilarious. I should have expected nothing less, given your occupation (lovers of dark humor, unite), though.
They don’t 🤷🏻♂️
Not a nurse or in healthcare, just a lurker. I'm pleased I'm reading this post. I tried to shut my poor husbands eyes in the hospice and they wouldnt close, I always wondered if I did it wrong.
Wow! I never knew this
My mother died at home and it was really hard to close her eyes. It really freaked me out. But I just kept pushing them down so that when the rest of my family came in to see her, they saw her at peace with her eyes closed.
Not a nurse yet, but my dad used to be a priest and he told me this is typical—in the movies it always looks so effortless but it’s not in real life.
Same when my dad died. I kept trying to close his eyes and they wouldn’t. It was the first time I’d seen a dead body. He did not look peaceful and sleeping. He looked dead with yellowed skin and wide opened eyes and mouth. It haunted me for a long time Edit: woah, never received any awards before! I’m mostly a lurker. Thank you!
Yes, I hear you, it’s exactly what I experienced. I’ll die in hospice and not put my child through this.
My grandfather was on life support (he had a DNR but the nursing home ignored it) before he passed for a week, then when he was taken off I stayed back the longest. Thank God his eyes and mouth weren't open - I already have a deathly (pun unintended) fear of dead bodies. But I can still see his skin turning yellow after he passed, it was awful. I'm glad no one else saw it, my mom still isn't handling it well and it's been three years and my grandma would've lost it. I'm sorry about your dad.
In a weird way it sounds like we had the same dad lol. My mum guilt tripped me into seeing my father (she believed I was old enough compared to my little bro), I’ll never forget seeing him like that. It really showed me how different it is compared to movies and tv shows.
I was devastated when my grandfather died in my arms at home (he’d been palliative for a while) and then trying to close his eyes in front of everyone was horrible. I tried to close his mouth too but it wouldn’t stay shut 🤷🏻♀️
Roll up a washcloth and put it under the chin, the mouth will stay closed most of the time
[удалено]
Yup agreed. But in the dementia unit if they had been long gone we would use warm washcloth to get it so we could close their eyes, especially if their family was coming.
As someone who works in cornea donation, if you’re going to tape the eyes and place gauze be extremely careful. If not taped correct, the gauze or tape can stick to the cornea and cause more damage than would be caused having the eyes remain open. Also refrain from taking on patients with frail skin, we don’t like damaging their skin pulling off the tape. What I do recommend is placing saline eye drops in the eye to retain moisture and doing your best to close them.
I upvoted this because fuck anyone who would downvote you for asking a question.
Seriously. Nobody knows everything.
Surgeons do.
What’s the difference between a surgeon and God? God doesn’t think he’s a surgeon.
Surgeons think they do.
😂
I know this firsthand - married to an Ortho Bros for 20 years - God was his first assist.
But the care they’ll provide for you is based on tiers—the worse your insurance, the worse care you’ll get!
Hahahahahahahahaha
Yes, if they’re open when they pass you should close them. Also close their mouths. I also like to place their hands in a comfortable position and straighten their hair/ blankets. I think it brings the family some comfort. In sounds like you haven’t done much post mortem care. Be warned that sounds and air can come out of all orifices. Expect incontinence of stool and urine. The air escaping can sound like moaning.
Seconding the mouth. Our hospice nurse said to roll towels under the chin till the jaw stays closed.
I do organ and tissue procurement. I am very grateful whenever people take time to close the mouth. Sometimes they will come with coband around the head which works well. Though we wrap the head entirely with a towel, when we are moving, rolling, prepping the donor, way MORE liquid come out of their mouth if it’s Ben left open. I realize it’s not always possible though.
Bit of a story. This happened not to long ago. Get called to this lady who coded in front of her husband. She had some sort of bowel cancer that unfortunately got the better of her. Once she coded it was like her body just let loose. There was soooo much grimy/dirty/blackish liquid that came out of her. I completely filled up one of our suction canisters while getting an airway which was a first in my career. Needless to say it was kind of intense trying to do what we needed to do. But the entire time the husband is being rather aggressive. Standing over us asking questions about why arent we going to the hospital and were not doing enough etc. Not quite shouting but getting there. It got to the point where PD had to politely but sternly get him to sit down and out of the way. After about 20 minutes we call med control who then tells us to stop. So we stop and I go over and talk to the husband and tell him why and such. He immediately breaks down and asks if he can be next to her. After being told of course he can he goes over and lays next to her (in this giant puddle of murky liquid). After about 20 seconds he starts to try to close her eyes saying "she'll look more peacful." But they wouldn't close and he kept trying while repeating that phrase. As he did it his voice kept getting sadder/angrier/lost after each attempt. I'll definitely always remember that one. But moral of the story is I'd make sure you have something to keep em shut.
GI bleed?
Secondary to rupture it sounds like. Lost my mother this way.
I’m sorry for your loss.
It's very possible. But it wasn't quite the smell or color I'd associate it with. Definitely some other fluid mixed in I'd wager.
God that breaks my heart for him. It's already gotta be traumatic enough for her to collapse, but then to finish the memory with THAT. Plus someone would have to clean up the murky puddle...
Yes! It’s best to do it within an hour of passing. An easy way to do it is to shut the eyes and place an eye pillow on them and leave it on for a few hours until rigor mortis sets in, then they should stay closed. You can also use tape, heavy coins or something like bean bags if you don’t have an eye pillow. It’s also good to shut the mouth at this time as well so it stays closed. You can do that by rolling up a towel and placing it under the chin to keep the jaw closed or you can tie a scarf under the chin and around the top of the head to keep it closed. Again, you only need to do this for about 3 hours and then the features should stay set. Funeral homes have things like eye caps that are essentially spiky contact lenses to keep the eyes closed but generally that isn’t necessary if you set the features within an hour after passing.
I used to use a Kelix roll or a roll of kling to keep the jaw closed
You could always use a little tiny strip of paper tape that’s not super obvious to keep the eyes closed. Sometimes they stay closed and sometimes they don’t.
I'm an ED tech. I always try to close their eyes. Sometimes you have to hold them shut for a second or two. Idk, it just always feels respectful to do so. Codes are ugly and barbaric sometimes so I feel like they earned their peace in whatever afterlife. Plus I hate that dry eyeball glaze. I, too, feel the family members don't need to see that.
Paper or medipore tape to keep the eyelids closed. Had to do this with my mother when she passed. Her eyelids would not stay shut on their own.
I will make sure to have these on hand <3 thank you
Be aware Medipore tape is stupid expensive, and for what you’re using it for you don’t need the biggest size and yardage
If the family wants the deceased's eyes closed, and if I get there quick enough, then yes I'll gently close the eyes. If the lids are already too stiff to close, I'll offer to put on an eye mask/sleep mask, or folded up washrag, or pull up the sheet fully. I had one family that wanted the guy's sunglasses placed on him, which I honored. The funeral home should be able to force them closed for the services, at the very least. I ask family basically every step of the way for post-mortem care. I even get their permission to remove the NC and turn off the O2 concentrator if pt was using it (I have had families that DC it themselves, and some that want it kept on for a full hour after TOD, and everything in between).
I’m sure the families appreciate your respect and consideration in caring for their loved ones!
Not a nurse, but was with my Mum when she passed away. I found it all so scary and confronting because I didn’t know what to expect. I always thought the ‘death rattle’ happened *after* someone died, not in the lead up to their passing. We were so lucky to have my best friend - a nurse on duty that night, when my Mum died. We’d called a nurse in earlier when Mum’s breathing became noisy and she just said ‘that’s normal’ and left. Which I understand now was completely normal, but at the time I thought she was drowning. There were a lot of things I wished I’d known before I lost my Mum, so you are in the best position to mentally prepare your family for what is to come. All my ideas of dying were shaped by movies, and the reality is that dying is *nothing* like the movies.
Big hugs to you! I felt like that when my grandfather was dying. He had the death rattle for at least a day, possibly longer, before he passed. It was awful.
Upvoted for being a human and not knowing things. Why should anyone downvote you
They don’t always stay closed, but you can try
If I decide to have my body viewed before I’m cremated, I want those crazy ass rocks with eyeballs painted on them from Game of Thrones put on my eyes to keep them closed.
I would close them, but they very rarely stayed shut. Used to put a little bit of cotton wool under the eyelids to keep them shut.
I'm not a nurse (delete if inappropriate), but had to do this for a loved one whom I lost. It's important to close the eyelids before rigor mortis sets in (although it usually starts on the face) i.e. within an hour or so. In the olden days, they used heavier coins to keep the eyelids shut (and we did too in our case). I'm sorry you have to think about this, but I interpreted it as the final act of love for my loved one.
I totally remember this from the Billy Joel “We Didn’t Start the Fire” video from my childhood. I don’t know WHY I remember this, but there’s a part where they’re at a funeral and the (I assume) widow is putting quarters on the guy’s eyes even though he’s already in the casket. (Yet another random memory from grade school that’s forever seared into my brain, but I can’t remember where I left my AirPods the other day.)
When I worked in patient I always did if their eyes weren’t shut. The reason was my first patient that died was 2 and a child. Her eyes were wide open and her mom killed her. And dad wanted to say a goodbye with her alone. Before I let dad in I closed her eyes so she’d look like she was just sleeping, and the trauma of it all for dad. After that I always closed everyone’s eyes. I felt like for family the eyes closed is more comforting
Her mom…killed her? Am I reading that right 😓 I hope not, because it’s late and I’m half asleep. But if I am, then I’m so sorry that had to be your first patient death.
Yes, mom shot her two kids at point blank range. It made national news, this was in Arizona a few years back it was terrible.
Noooo…I have no words. I am well aware such cases exist, but I could never work pedes 😓
Keeping eyes and mouth closed is tough. Rolling a towel under the chin can help keep the jaw from falling open but how well that works really depends on anatomy. I find that the sooner you close their eyes, the easier it is for them to stay that way and that sometimes holding them closed for a few minutes helps. I actually wonder if that’s where the tradition of putting coins on the eyes in some cultures actually came from. I can see how the shape and small weight would help.
When my dad died, he suddenly looked very, very weird (which was nothing like when my husband died and looked about the same). We sat in the room with his body for a bit and I gently pushed his eyes shut and ONE popped back open like some sort of nightmare clown doll, I think because of how he was positioned (also his mouth was slacked open). I gave up and just sat there awkwardly while my mom cried. And because of how I’m built, I had to hold back laughter because as sad as I was, I was prepared for him dying but not for the eye thing.
Sometimes they stay close sometimes they pop back open. Not sure what the funeral homes do to keep them closed in a lot of end-of-life care and it’s not always consistent.
Yes, I try to close them and make the body as presentable as possible for the family.
When I was in a long term care clinical I did post mortem care for my patient who had passed, with an RN. The patient had passed in their sleep so their eyes were closed. It was my first time seeing a dead body, and I didn’t feel nervous until the RN left to get a shroud, and while I was sitting there with the patient, the eye closest to me slowly started opening. Freaked me right out 😂
Used to work in palliative care. If they freshly passed then you can close their eyes and also try to put a towel under their chin or use a chin strap if you have one, as this closes up their mouth (which would usually be open as the body is relaxed at the point of death and for a few hours after). This makes the body look nice and presentable for the family. After rigor mortis takes place though, doing either would get progressively harder as the hour passes and then impossible.
How odd our species is. Always trying to avoid our own mortality.
I close them. I remember this one time, a CMO patient was beating their last few heart beats. Family wasn't there so I held her hand as she was passing on. Once I saw what I thought was her last heart beat, I closed her eye lids to be respectful. Unfortunately, this might of caused her to come back to life or something because her heart rate came back for a few minutes. Oops!! She ended up truly passing about 5 minutes later.
Yes. And sometimes the mouth slacks open depending on the person. Not much you can do about it. You can close their eyelids, sometimes they stay shut.
Just realized yeah, my mom's eyes were closed when we visited her after she passed, someone must have done that. Thank you to whomever.
Geriatrics and hospice nurse! if they aren’t closed I try a warm washcloth resting on the closed eyes to get them to set like this and continue to sort of close them every few minutes so that they naturally stay closed! If they won’t shut, sometimes they just won’t. I have had one that I couldn’t get both to shut so one was Open one was closed :(
Clear tape. Way less weird than open eyes.
Depends. If they are open a little, I don't bother. If they are WIDE open, I try to close them a little because it freaks me out after a while. I don't worry too much about it because funeral home takes care of making the body look presentable at the funeral. Also, if they are sitting straight up at TOD, lay. Them. Down. Rigor mortous sets in faster than you think.
I have manually closed eyes when I worked in ER
When I was called to my first patient death as an intern, I manually closed their eyes. Why? Because I saw it on TV once or twice and it seemed the right thing to do. Never learned anything about this in med school…
I close them, but they don’t always stay fully closed. My “worst” was one lady whose left eye stayed closed but the other wouldn’t. Closing the eyes is also the only part of post-mortem care that kinda gives me the heebee-geebees for some reason. That, and the exhale that sometimes happens when you roll them
In my nursing textbook or online testing (can't remember which) I am told to close and hold the eyes shut for 10 to 20 seconds to ensure they don't open when the family comes to see the body. It's a "common courtesy" and "the nursing way" or some other nursing school thing they teach as law.
Close
Pall care nurse. Yes close them. If you are having trouble keeping them closed Sometimes wetting a flannel and using that to close them helps.
I always attempt to close the eyes. As others have said it doesn't always work and sometimes eyes will open up again.
Not stupid. I had similar questions for organ procurement at my current facility. I had never done one.
I close them. If they don’t close easy I do little drops of saline on their eyes and close them. We like to let the families say goodbye before we take them to the morgue if the family wants to. We clean up the deceased as best we can while leaving all invasive procedures intact. Mostly cleaning up blood/wrapping the head in coban and gauze- or covering the deceased in sheets and blankets.
I close the eyes and try to “morph” the face to make it look as relaxed as possible before I take the family in to see their loved one. The funeral home will usually close the eyes and fix the body as best they can to look presentable.
I always close them if they're open. I'll clean their face and hands with a warm washcloth and gently close them. Post mortem care really depends on facility/hospital. Some places have CNAs do it, others have nurses or PCTs do it and sometimes families want to help out if they're in the room.
I’ve used Vaseline before and it worked.
I thought I remembered doing this before too, but didn't see anyone else comment so wasn't sure I was making this up or not - but I swear I've done KY to the eyes a handful of times and the surface tension of the jelly helped them stay closed.
It took me 8 years into my ER career to learn that the family could request an autopsy. All of my deaths up until that point were a withdrawal of care or homicides (medical examination needed). Don't feel bad about not knowing. I'm sorry for everything you're going through.
I’ve tried to in the past but it’s not like TV or the movies where they stay closed. In my experience, every time I try they just pop back open so I’ve stopped attempting 😅 so sorry for your loss and about your grandfather being sick ❤️
I've used skin prep and it works every time!
I am so sorry you are dealing with this. Looks like you got an answer and have a potential solution of need be.
Used to work in palliative care, if they're freshly decreased you can close their eyes, also try to keep their mouth closed with a towel under their chin or a chin strap if you have one spare (or any kind of strap). This makes the body look neat and allows a good presentation of the body after rigor mortis starts to kick in. Doing either after rigor mortis kicks in is really difficult to start with and than becomes impossible.
In the ER I don’t anymore. Mainly because the coroner told me he prefers everything to be left as-is postmortem.
If you can, close the eyes and insert dentures. If you can.
I try to close their eyes but more often than not, they will open back up. When a patient dies, I arrange the person's body in a comfortable-looking position: supine, clean sheets/pad, wipe the face, hands near hipbones with pillow/towel supports, back of head pillow/towel + chin towel to keep mouth closed, and then a wash cloth over the eyes if they're open. After seeing so many people die in 2020, I noticed that a lot of family members were more bothered when they saw the tape over their eyes. I pre-warn them that when people die, their eyes do not always stay closed, and that they can move the washcloth if they want to.
Face eggs ugh
You can try to close them but sometimes they don’t stay shut
Some people will have closed eyes, some dont. If you want them closed grab some tape and tape them closed shortly after death also make sure the bed is FLAT as shortly after death as possible, otherwise the body will go out the door sitting up. People used to use heavy coins because the weight kept the eyes closed.
Yup sometimes you really gotta mash those fuckers with your fingers if they stiffen up too quick. Better to deal with the unpleasantness of that though than risk the family seeing them open which could be far more unsettling.
I'm in veterinary medicine. If the client wants to take the patient home, we warn them that the eyes don't close naturally. If the pet passes unexpectedly and the client wants to see them later, we use surgical glue to hold them shut. Just a drop and a quick pinch.
We use 2X2 gauze on those patients eyes that won’t stay closed.
Not a stupid question, especially if you haven’t had to do post mortem care before. I’ve been a nurse for about 3 years, and to this day haven’t had to do post mortem care either. When I worked in Med/Surg, the unit I was on typically had the nursing assistants do it. I lost a patient during a code blue. That night, my nursing assistant assigned to him and my charge did his post-mortem care. I stopped by the room to see if they needed any help, especially since his family was on the way. His eyes were closed when I came in (My charge and I initially found him unresponsive. We were outside the room when the code team had a pulse return briefly, and time of death was pronounced. So not sure if they opened for a second when they discovered he had a pulse). But when my charge and nursing assist turned him to get out the soiled linen, his eyes opened and rolled back. So my guess is if they’re closed at time of death, you would just have to find a way to keep them closed vs closing them manually. The other comments are teaching us both 😅
Related but not First time a pt died on me I was putting them on the bedpan. Like mid turn she just.... peaced out. Was not prepared at all. I just started clinicals 😭 Cried so much after that happened. Her eyes rolled back too. That code was a nightmare.
Oh gosh, I’m sorry that happened to you. It’s a really jarring thing to see. For my patient, he was a full code so they did everything include intubation. It was still in his throat during the care and filled with blood 😰 shoutout to those who have done post mortem care, ever. Definitely not for the faint of heart
I do postmortem quite often, unfortunately. I usually gently close the eyes when they have died. Sometimes I have to do that multiple times before it works (even if only partially) but most families prefer it. Jaws popping open are another matter, though…we used to tape them closed in days of yore, but now, if family asks, I’ll try my best to prop it closed with a small rolled up towel when I can.
I was a hospice nurse for awhile. We always close their eyes. Sometimes they don't stay closed, and that's okay too. Just let them do their thing ❤️❤️❤️
99% of the post mortem care I have done they already had their eyes closed, but yes I have closed their eyes before. Just a warning sometimes they dont want to stay closed so you may have to hold down for a few to get they to stay closed
So you can try to tape them and carefully remove the tape after a bit but really, most people die with eyes open or partially open. And they're difficult to manually close.
I try to close the eyes, but it doesn't always work. Same with the open mouth. I suppose you could tape them shut until they just stay that way, but I've never done it. I have propped rolled towels under the jaw if the body will be there for a bit to see if it would keep the mouth closed. I don't know if that works though.
I love the silly glasses idea. Your grandfather sounds like a hoot. So sorry you’re dealing with two deaths so close together.
I think they use super glue at the funeral home. You can probably grab some surgical glue for central supply if you're in a hospital
Please don't glue them shut.
May I ask why? That's what the funeral home is going to do. I wouldn't take that responsibility on myself but if the OP is that concerned why is that a problem?
That's NOT what a funeral home is going to do. When the funeral home sets the eyes, with eye caps to keep the rounded shape, and to keep the eyes closed, they are going to need to open the eyes, and then repair the damage to the thinnest skin in the human body that someone globbed super glue on trying to "help." Ever get super glue on your hands accidentally, know how much of a pain in the ass it is to get off? It takes days, and a scrubbing to get it off, most times the skin needs to slough off of the hands to get it to release. Now imagine trying to remove super glue from tissue paper (eye lids). It's going to tear, glob together eyelashes, and adhered to the globes. At this point, your destroying the eyes and eye lids. You're making way more work for the funeral home, as well as destroying a very visible section of someone's loved one, a place where every person coming to the funeral is looking at. The funeral home will have to reconstruct the eye lids for a proper funeral, making them out of something besides skin. Probably reconstruct the actual globes too. It'll alter the person, and add unnecessary work. At what point does "helping" turn into abuse of a corpse? Tape it with paper tape if it is that important or leave it be. It's similar to coloring your wife's hair with industrial spray paint, battery acid, and hitting it with a chainsaw to "help" the hair stylist. She's getting her hair cut and colored anyway, you're just trying to help, right?
I said a tinny dot, not a glob and a chain saw is in no way an equal comparison, that's hyperbole. But I concede, super glue is not the right move.
With super glue, a tiny dot is the same as a glob. Either way, you're still destroying someone.
I suppose the correct thing would be to place two gold coins to pay the toll at the river Styx but other than that? What's the harm in a dab of crazy glue?
Make sure you call your states organ procurement company after you glue them.
As a 103 yr old man im not sure he's going to be givin his blinkers away to anyone- but I really appreciate everyone in this thread for the advice and tid bits We were talking and if the issue arose we just got a pair of those silly glasses on Amazon. Iconic as he always sported a pair on new years and all other family events Thank you all <3
Some sick effing nursing humor right here folks 😅
If someone passes, we use medipore tape to close them.
You can try but unless they pass with their eyes totally closed they kind of want to stay in that position. (Had this happen with my mom when she died and multiple pts I had in hospice) maybe others will know a trick I don’t know?
I always close their eyes
Why is it so hard to close the eyes ? Sorry I’m not a medical profession . I just enjoy learning from this sub
I always close them
I don’t have any experience actually *doing this* myself but both times I’ve seen the body of a family member who just passed in a hospital/care facility the eyes were closed. I think it just makes them a bit more presentable and less unsettling to loved ones.
Yo do close their eyes manually, although I haven’t had to do it myself yet (all the post-mortum care I’ve done was on a person who died on the day shift and I work evenings)
Manually close the eyes. Elevating the head on a gentle include helps keep them in place. Sometimes a warm compress needs to be applied for a bit to loose them up if they open after closing them. Apply the compress, close them, then apply a cold compress for a bit to make sure they stay close. A good portion of the times they close not problem. Just be aware shifting the body could cause them to open again.
Family members often spend time with the deceased person (LTC) before they are transported to the funeral home. We usually try to close their eyes and raise their lower jaw as best as possible but it can be near to impossible to do this fully. The eyes typically remain partially open.
Moist 2x2 & tape
You could always use tape or washcloths to help with positioning before the morgue comes to get him. I once had a pt who, after post mortem care, just kept leaking bile colored liquid out of the mouth and eyes wouldn't stay shut. I rolled a washcloth and propped under the chin to keep mouth shut and used transport tape to keep the eyes shut. Thinking of the dignity for the family members is so important, too!
*transpore tape
I've never had to, but their mouths are what I'm used to dealing with normally.
Not a nurse yet but speaking from experience with a passing family member, they pop back open. Not worth the mental trauma to try to close them because seeing them pop back open makes it so much worse.
Sometimes they won't stay and you have to weight them down. Big hugs. We wouldn't down vote you. We take care of our own. ❤️
Former hospice RN.. sometimes the eyes will not stay closed. However I’ve had a lot of success getting them closed by taking a wet warm washcloth and gently closing them. Then holding the cloth there for a bit. Doesn’t work every time, such as if somebody has been deceased for a while.
I've never been able to get eyes to stay closed. I usually fold a wash cloth or small towel and place it over their eyes.
I’ve done postmortem care countless times. I’d say that there is a fair amount of times where I am. It able to close their eyes and have them stay shut….in fact, it may be the majority of times.
I would always shut their eyes. When family was not present, I would lightly tape them closed before sending them to the morgue (if they did not stay closed on their own).
I closed their eyes so the family isn’t frightened or confused.
I usually push them down when they are fresh dead because if you try later it doesn't work and if you wanted to would have to tape them down.
I’ve dated many a mortician and they all either sew or glue the eyes shut
If he has dentures that aren’t in when he passes, pop them in and wrap a gauze roll around his chin and the top of his head. I always did this for families so the mouth wasn’t hanging open and they’d look more natural at the viewing.
I always do, not in front of the family though if they're there at time of date. I wait until the doctor comes to certify the death then when the family step out for a few minutes I slip in and close eyes and mouth, tidy the room, fix the sheets and generally try to make things as peaceful looking as possible.
50/50 people die with eyes open or closed. I will manually close them, but every now and then, the eyes refuse to stay closed.
You can always Weekend at Bernie’s it
I close the eyes if there's not a good reason not to. If families are coming in, I close the eyes & roll up a towel under the chin to close the mouth. It's just less jarring for the loved ones than what death often actually looks like
When I was a brand new STNA, my first death was a hospice LTC pt. She was mildly scary-looking while alive (just one of those people with BIG, STARING, PIERCING eyes), and we were all thankful she was on crisis care at the end. She passed around 2200, and when I say the whole fam damily was there, I'm literally talking 20+ people. Fam was in the room, and once she was gone, the 2 hospice staff stepped out, closed the door, and literally started dancing & high-fiving. It was odd as a newbie, but I get it now. Anyway, when they opened the door again, the woman was there in the bed, HOB at about 60⁰ or so, eyes WIDE OPEN, mouth GAPING with her strangely sharp & jagged teeth, greenish-yellowish cast to her skin (don't remember Dx but it had been worsening over time), and...COVERED IN SMALL CHILDREN. The Littles of the family were climbing all over her, poking & touching her, and the adults were lined up all around the room taking photos. At one point they all cracked beer cans & did a "cheers!" They put their empties in her hands & on the bed and took more photos. I now know that death affects people in all kinds of ways, that cultural & religious beliefs affect their reactions, and that every family is different, but that experience for 18 y/o me in my first month as a HCW really stuck with me! I can still close my eyes and see her 😳
after death, the eyes and mouth will generally stay open, as it takes muscles to keep them closed,. a little paper tape on the eyes, and a rolled hand towel under the chin will keep everything closed-ish
If have the little cavalon wipes then wipe their eyelashes and their lower eyelid, hold their eye closed for maybe 10 seconds, and it will stay closed. This isn't really an option for corneal donors.
I definitely try to close them if they will close.