The comments about care assistants caring for the deceased as though they were living were interesting to hear. As a former HCA I always felt the need to do this because there never seemed to be another way of caring for someone. It was our personal chance to go into a quiet room and say goodbye to our patient before having to go back into a loud busy ward and continue as though nothing had happened. Personally, I always thought of the person as a relative or friend, plus, we can never know if someone who has died will be aware of our actions in someway! As a member of staff, this helped to cope with the loss.
