Decedent Care Representative

Duke University • Durham, NC

413d

About The Position

The position at Duke University Hospital involves assisting families and staff with the care and disposition of deceased individuals. The role requires coordination with medical personnel, completion of necessary paperwork, and acting as a liaison between the hospital and funeral homes. The individual will also be responsible for maintaining mortuary records and ensuring compliance with state and federal laws regarding decedent care.

Requirements

• Knowledge of basic mortuary science and communications education principles, typically acquired through two years of post-secondary education.
• Three years of related experience or an equivalent combination of relevant education and/or experience.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with physicians and nurses regarding the timing to approach families about decedent care.
• Meet with next of kin and assist in completing necessary paperwork.
• Arrange for body viewing as appropriate.
• Screen all deaths for medical examiner's jurisdiction in compliance with state law.
• Request autopsy consent on all non-medical legal deaths.
• Complete all appropriate decedent care paperwork in compliance with state and federal laws.
• Provide autopsy information to family members and medical personnel as per departmental guidelines.
• Act as primary liaison between Duke Hospital and funeral homes.
• Provide information to funeral homes, transporters, patient families, staff, and security officers regarding decedent care and hospital death policy.
• Release body to funeral home.
• Transport bodies, charts, and unclaimed belongings to the morgue.
• Store and maintain the body in a cooler.
• Mix and prepare preservative solutions as required.
• Perform incisions, evisceration of the body, and special dissection techniques.
• File, store, and retrieve tissue specimens.
• Assist with disposal of tissue.
• Inform appropriate organ banks or anatomy department if consent for tissue donations was obtained.
• Assist tissue and organ banks by requesting all tissue donations at one time.
• Maintain instruments and supplies; clean and disinfect all suites, instruments, and equipment.
• Maintain mortuary records and autopsy record logs.
• Assist in training and scheduling lower-level employees.
• Perform other related duties incidental to the work described.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Industry: Educational Services
• Education Level: No Education Listed