After‐death care is the final act a nurse will carry out for the patient and remains associated with ritual (Pattison [46]). Nursing care for a patient who has died has historical roots dating back to the 19th century (Wolf [62]). However, contemporary nursing has moved away from the ritualistic practices of cleansing, plugging, packing and tying the patient's orifices to prevent the leakage of body fluids to encompass much more than simply dealing with a dead body (Pattison [46], Pearce [47]). Consideration now has to be given to legal issues surrounding death, the removal (or non‐removal) of equipment, washing and grooming, and ensuring correct identification of the patient (Costello [7]). Several national documents allude to the importance of care before death including bereavement care for those closest to the patient (DH [8], National Nurse Consultant Group, Palliative Care [34], National Palliative and End of Life Care Partnership [35]). This corresponds to the theory of a ‘good death’ in which being treated with dignity is an underlying premise (Kehl [27], Smith [54]), and good death encompasses all stages of dying and death (Pattison [46]). This principle, therefore, continues after death.

Carrying out such an intimate act, which in many cultures would be carried out only by certain family or community members, requires careful consideration by nurses and adequate preparation of procedures that include family members where possible. Since 60.6% of all men and women who die in England and Wales will die in an institution (hospice, hospital or care home) (ONS [43]), it is predominantly nurses who will have to carry out after‐death care prior to patients being moved to mortuaries or funeral homes. Quested and Rudge ([49]) suggested that this aspect of care is largely invisible to other healthcare workers.

Death threatens the orderly continuation of social life, according to Seale ([51]). Last Offices can mark the social transition of the person as well as the biological death of the patient, and begins the process of handing over care to the family and funeral director. Last Offices can be considered as an important act in the rite of passage in moving the deceased person into the world of the dead (Van Gennep [58]) and is a procedure that people in all cultures recognize.