u/giganticrats

(To the mods - I didn't see anything indicating that this type of question would not be allowed, at least from my understanding of the rules. Please remove if I am violating the rules of this sub. If that is that case, please note it is in error.)

I feel that this is an unusual question, but I thought this might be a good place to ask. Please note, I am asking sincerely for advice here.

For some background, I am starting nursing school July 6th, 2026, and the week after on July 13th, I am starting work as a Patient Care Technician (PCT). Before being hired, I was informed that if one of my patients dies while I am on shift, I will be responsible for respectfully asking the family to leave the room (if they are there), cleaning up the body due to bowel evacuation, and placing them in the body bag. I shadowed 3 times for this hospital and had the ability to talk to 3 different PCTs. It didn't feel like the right time to ask to ask about death related care.

I know that I can handle this, I would just like some advice. It's really not a question of "if" I will be responsible for the care of the deceased, it's just a matter of when.

My only prior experience with dead human beings has been at funerals and being in a cadaver room at a medical school, seeing a dissected cadaver up close.

I feel that it will be very different with deceased patients because I will know them in life and be responsible for their health related needs prior to death. I do intend to ask other healthcare workers about their experience as well, but I got the impression that some people on my unit are a little jaded in their profession, so I intend to be very choosy in asking fellow healthcare workers on my floor.

I'm not trying to put the cart before the horse here, but I have a gut feeling that it will be emotionally difficult for me when I have my first dead patient in my care. I think knowing that this is effectively inevitable, given my chosen career path, I think that having some guidance on how to emotionally process this ahead of time would be of some comfort to me.

Any guidance on this would be greatly appreciated. I know that our professions related to death care are different, but I sincerely value any input that any of you wish to share.

Thank you.

This might be a complete shot in the dark, but I thought I'd ask here.

I'm starting nursing school in July and am applying for hospital jobs that would require scrubs. The only place where I can find cheap scrubs that I'm aware of right now is Saver's and it's real hit or miss. It's hard to find colors that match, but I have time to look.

I've looked on ebay and I'm finding that a lot of used scrubs are about the same price as new ones.

I also volunteer at a non-profit. We get scrubs donated sometimes, but again, it's real hit or miss in sizing and colors.

I'm open to any and all suggestions including online if someone knows of a place to score inexpensive scrubs. I'm a size 3XL petite in women's for tops and bottoms. Low cost is necessary because I'm on a tight budget and a lot of entry level healthcare jobs are low paying.