Mediating worlds: the role of nurses as ritual specialists in caring for the dead and dying

Journal article

Buster, L., Croucher, K., Green, L. and Faull, C. 2023. Mediating worlds: the role of nurses as ritual specialists in caring for the dead and dying. Mortality. 29 (3), pp. 554-571. https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694
AuthorsBuster, L., Croucher, K., Green, L. and Faull, C.
Abstract

Rituals are central to the everyday life of the nurse, yet the fundamental roles that rituals play in caring for the dead and dying has often been neglected. This paper explores modern palliative and post-mortem care – its practices, practitioners and arenas – against the background of long-held, global concerns regarding the dead and dying. Comparison with the archaeological and ethnographic records demonstrates©the ubiquitous and enduring practices surrounding death, and the centrality of ritual specialists to this complex social and biological process. This deep-time perspective highlights the importance of nurses, and their associated nursing rituals, in the transition of patients between life and death, and the difficult journeys that nurse, patient and family undertake in this mediation between worlds. Such a perspective not only empowers nurses in their daily practices, and places nursing rituals firmly at the centre of modern palliative care work, but demonstrates the value of archaeology and ethnography in contextualising the challenges of today.

KeywordsRitual specialist; Palliative care; Nursing; Rite of passage; Death; Archaeology
Year2023
JournalMortality
Journal citation29 (3), pp. 554-571
PublisherInforma UK Limited
ISSN1357-6275
1469-9885
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694
Official URLhttps://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694
FunderArts and Humanities Research Council
Publication dates
Online17 Apr 2023
Print02 Jul 2024
Publication process dates
Accepted24 Mar 2023
Deposited24 Apr 2023
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Open
Output statusPublished
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