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

Lindsey Sarah Buster; Karina Croucher; Laura Green; Christina Faull

doi:10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694

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

Lindsey Sarah Buster, Karina Croucher, Laura Green, Christina Faull

Archaeology

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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.

Original language	English
Number of pages	18
Journal	Mortality
Early online date	17 Apr 2023
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 17 Apr 2023

Bibliographical note

Access to Document

10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694Licence: CC BY

Mediating worlds the role of nurses as ritual specialists in caring for the dead and dying
© 2023 The Author(s).
Final published version, 782 KBLicence: CC BY

Cite this

@article{3f562164c50d4ec8bb02fdb2c7bb9716,

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

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{\textcopyright}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 thedifficult 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.",

author = "Buster, {Lindsey Sarah} and Karina Croucher and Laura Green and Christina Faull",

note = "{\textcopyright} 2023 The Author(s).",

year = "2023",

month = apr,

day = "17",

doi = "10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694",

language = "English",

journal = "Mortality",

issn = "1357-6275",

publisher = "Routledge",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Mediating worlds

T2 - the role of nurses as ritual specialists in caring for the dead and dying

AU - Buster, Lindsey Sarah

AU - Croucher, Karina

AU - Green, Laura

AU - Faull, Christina

PY - 2023/4/17

Y1 - 2023/4/17

N2 - 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 thedifficult 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.

AB - 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 thedifficult 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.

U2 - 10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694

DO - 10.1080/13576275.2023.2198694

M3 - Article

SN - 1357-6275

JO - Mortality

JF - Mortality

ER -