Mortuary Gem Becomes Reality

So you’ll be pleased to read that technically I am no longer a liar and a fake, and today was ‘Day One’ of when I can legitimately call myself Mortuary Gem. This morning I went to work in an actual mortuary in my new job as Mortuary Assistant. I suggest there should be a fanfare of some sort at this point, just so you know to insert one in your own mind for dramatic effect. 

‘What happened??’, I hear you ask eagerly. 

Well, I can assure you I had the best first day of work I have ever had, because basically I feel like I am truly somewhere I belong and can thrive. That is all I ever really wanted out of a job, something I felt utterly passionate about and that I want to turn up to every day. Who knows if I will always feel this way, but ever since my archaeologist days I’ve not been able to feel that way about anything I have done and been paid for. I’m also just the teensy bit proud of myself for having got here after all this time. 

‘Shut up about your feelings, and talk about your day’, I hear you grumble. 

No problem, of course I will talk about what did actually happen today and a good place to start is the beginning. I got to the mortuary for 8am and I changed into my new scrubs and Crocs. I have always hated and said I would never wear Crocs in my life but I will make an exception for this purpose. We, as in the mortuary team, then had our morning heads up meeting and discussed what was happening that day. 

I started the day by being shown how to check the fridge temperatures throughout the mortuary and how this is recorded for audit and compliance purposes. We also performed an alarm check, so basically when the temperature in a fridge gets too high it should trigger an alarm and the mortuary is notified. Luckily, this was all as it should be and in working order. Part of my role will be to complete this regularly. 

I then helped to register the people who had entered the mortuary from the weekend, a Monday is often the busiest day due to this fact. One day I will be doing this registering process myself as part of my role, but for today I read the procedure on how to complete it and tried to remember each step while assisting one of my new colleagues. One thing I did notice is that it was an incredibly busy morning with doorbells going off, phones ringing and tasks to be completed. I did my best to help, I answered the phone sheepishly a couple of times hoping the person on the other end wouldn’t ask anything I had no idea how to answer yet, and I answered the doors a few times in a similar fashion. I have a lot to learn and lot to discover but all in good time and I shouldn’t try to run before I can walk.  This is day one after all. 

After lunch, the afternoon was mostly taken up with watching my colleague enter the details into the system and logs, which I am going to learn soon, while setting up viewings for family members in the viewing room. I think I am correct in saying that I will be working closely with the bereavement team and helping relatives by setting up these viewings as part of my role and this is something I think is hugely important and I am excited to be a part of. A huge reason I wanted to get into this career is to support and provide help to the families alongside caring for their relatives within the mortuary.

The day ended at 4pm with being shown how to lock up the area and the other end of day processes. One thing I really liked about today was that all the people I met were lovely and welcoming. This ranged from the mortuary staff, to undertakers who were coming to collect people, doctors who were coming in for examinations, the bereavement team staff and other hospital staff. 

Well tomorrow is another day, and I’m excited as I know it will hold a lot of learning and further interesting things. Don’t worry, I won’t be posting daily updates going forward, I just thought it was important to get this one out as soon as I could to let you all know how I got on. As always, please like, comment and let me know if you have any questions or thoughts. I love hearing from you. I will also be working on an update from the weekend conference over the next few days and get this out to you as soon as I can! 

MG x