Amy E. Henwood
Mortuary School: Mercer County Community College, Trenton, New Jersey
Being that I am a recent Nursing graduate from Marywood University, I am very familiar with allied professions that work together in making differences in the community. In fact, being in the nursing field was just one of the many reasons that I became interested in the Funeral Profession. Most ordinary people would think aren't the two professions conflicting? My answer simply is that the two are far from conflicting, but quite the opposite in that they both interconnect.
While practicing in the nursing field I am dealing with families that are in need to communicate to receive guidance with a loved one that is either in poor health or in some cases in critical condition. The families want to know how their loved one is coming along, as well as details on their health. The same goes with funerals, families look to someone for help in answering their questions. When a loved one dies grieving family members and friends often are confronted with dozens of decisions about the funeral, all of which must be made quickly and often under great emotional duress.
It is very important to have appropriate communication skills in order to educate and relieve pressure for families so that they can look to someone for assistance. Whether ones family member is ill in the hospital or has passed away, families turn to medical professions and funeral directors to alleviate pressure by guiding them into the right? direction. In fact the motto we utilize in the funeral home that I work for is Peace of Mind and Heart Before, During, and Beyond (Ryan, 2005).
The motto proposes that peace of mind and heart are two feelings that families want during their time of grieving. As professionals in the community both nurses and funeral directors are able to bring peace of mind and heart to families before a person passes away, during the grieving process, and beyond. In addition, the motto expresses the compassion that funeral directors should exhibit when caring for a family during their grieving period.
Nursing is a similar profession, compassion and loyalty is practiced on clients and is a very important aspect while practicing in the profession. Nurses and funeral directors have similar goals and that is to aid in the community at times that are either unexpected or uneasy for many in the public.
So with that said I as a funeral director and nurse have and will have reached out to the community to serve them in a time of need. In closing, it's not every day that compassion and business savvy intersect (Ryan 2005). However with allied professions such as, nursing and funeral directing the two exemplify just that, compassion intersecting with business.
