death Flashcards
adaptive grief
A healthy response
May be associated with grieving before a death actually occurs or when the reality that death is inevitable is known
anticipatory grief
Usually related to a loss or death
May be a healthy or an unhealthy response to the grief process
Patient and family members can experience anticipatory grieving
reactive grief
After an actual loss or a death occurs
Dysfunctional grief
Grief that is delayed or exaggerated
May relate to a real loss or a perceived loss
May occur in the absence of anticipatory grief, when grief is not resolved from a prior experience, or when the expression of grief is blocked in some way
Feelings and behaviors may become exaggerated and disruptive to a person’s typical lifestyle
kubler ross stages of grief
Denial Anger Bargaining Depression Acceptance Stages may alternate; not everyone experiences all stages, and there is no predictable timetable for the stages to occur
closed awareness
The family and the patient recognize that the patient is ill; there is a lack of awareness related to impending death
mutal pretense awareness
The patient, the loved ones, and the care providers know of the terminal prognosis; no one discusses the issue openly
open awareness
Patient and others freely discuss the impending death
rigor mortis
Within 2 to 4 hours the body stiffens
Caused by chemical changes within the body’s cells that prevent muscle relaxation
Usually fully developed in 6-12 hours and will disappear with the decomposition process within 36 hours
Algor mortis
The body begins to cool
Body temperature falls until it reaches the environmental temperature in approximately 24 hours
As body cools, the skin loses elasticity and can be broken easily
livor mortis
Breakdown of red blood cells causes a discoloration in the skin
Skin may appear bruised with reddish purple discoloration
Generally, the blood settles in the dependent parts of the body
Usually occurs within 30 minutes to 2 hours
