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Attitudes of nursing staff to the autopsy
Author(s) -
Dziobon Mark D.,
Roberts Ian S.D.,
Benbow Emyr W.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
journal of advanced nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.948
H-Index - 155
eISSN - 1365-2648
pISSN - 0309-2402
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2648.2000.t01-1-01563.x
Subject(s) - nursing , nursing staff , medicine , autopsy , psychology , family medicine , pathology
Attitudes of nursing staff to the autopsy We assessed the views of hospital nurses on the autopsy, using a questionnaire which was distributed by hand to all qualified nurses working at Manchester Royal Infirmary during a 48‐h period. We found that many respondents (43%) had had occasion to discuss autopsy with relatives, and the majority (90%) would like to learn more about counselling the bereaved. Few (15%) clearly understood the legal distinction between coroners’ and hospital autopsies. Almost all (97%) thought the main reason for autopsy was determination of the cause of death, and only 12% supported a role in clinical audit. More respondents saw benefits for doctors rather than for nurses, and only 56% perceived a benefit for relatives. In general, nursing staff have a more positive view of the autopsy than we anticipated, and we would advocate making more information about the benefits of autopsy available to nurses.