What Happens to Your Body After Death? Hospice Nurse Reveals the Jaw-Dropping Reality!

Julie, a hospice nurse, is on a mission to change the way society views death, shedding light on a topic many fear and avoid. Having worked as a registered nurse in an intensive care unit (ICU), she has encountered death more times than she can count.

Reflecting on her experiences, she recalls, “As healthcare workers, we would talk amongst ourselves about the likelihood of our patients dying, but we wouldn’t be talking with the patients or families.” This disconnection sparked a desire within her to do more, to speak out and advocate for open conversations with patients and their families. “This [led] me to want to speak up and advocate for my patients and their families and start having family meetings,” she said.

Her shift to hospice care allowed Julie to witness the beauty of the natural dying process. She found it powerful, observing how the body gracefully lets go. This transition, combined with her passion, led her to create a YouTube channel where she shares videos answering common questions about death.

In a recent video that has garnered over 580,000 views, Nurse Julie dives deep into what happens after death occurs. Here’s a closer look at the stages of the body’s journey after life ends.

What Happens Immediately After Death?

The first moments after death are marked by a profound sense of relaxation in the body, a process known as hypostasis. “All of the things in your body that are holding fluids in, relax,” explains Nurse Julie. “That’s why death can be messy sometimes.”

This relaxation may cause bodily fluids to release in unusual ways, such as from the nose, mouth, eyes, or ears. While it might be unsettling, Nurse Julie reassures viewers: “I like to talk about it so people aren’t surprised if that happens – very normal and to be expected sometimes.”

As the body continues to change, the process of autolysis begins. This is when enzymes start breaking down oxygen-deprived tissues. Nurse Julie emphasizes that these are all natural occurrences. The body also begins to cool, with the temperature dropping gradually, typically at a rate of about 1.5 degrees per hour. For some, this change in temperature happens immediately, while for others, it can take up to two hours, marking the start of the algor mortis phase.

Several Hours After Death

As time progresses, gravity takes hold, causing blood to pool in the lower parts of the body. Nurse Julie explains: “If you let someone lie there for long enough – which we do sometimes; you don’t have to hurry up and make sure your loved one leaves the house – if you turn them, you will notice usually the back of their legs the whole backside of them will look purple or darker. That’s because all their blood is pulling down.”

This phenomenon happens because gravity causes the blood to settle downward. This process creates a darker skin tone on the body’s backside.

Between one to two hours after death, rigor mortis sets in. This is when the muscles stiffen due to the depletion of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is required for muscle movement. When ATP runs out, the actin and myosin filaments in the muscles can no longer relax, leading to stiffness.

Nurse Julie notes that “I have seen people become very stiff almost immediately – like a few minutes – after death, and other people, their body takes longer.” The stiffening process usually starts in the small muscles, like those in the eyes and face, then spreads to the larger muscles in the neck, torso, and limbs.

One to Two Days After Death

After a day or so, the body’s muscles begin to loosen again as rigor mortis fades. The tissues start to relax and the body regains some flexibility. By this time, the body is typically at a mortuary, where preparations are made based on the family’s wishes, whether it’s for burial or cremation.

Nurse Julie shares that “in a world where people didn’t have access to a mortuary or a healthcare system and they just died naturally, our bodies are built to, after death, decompose.” As the body continues to cool, it reaches the ambient temperature of the room, completing the cooling process.

Several Days After Death

Between 4 to 10 days after death, a stage called putrefaction sets in. This stage is marked by a strong odor, caused by gases released as the body decomposes. The bacteria in the body, once part of a delicate balance, begin to feed on tissues, creating bloating and further discoloration of the skin. The body expels gases like methane and ammonia, resulting in the foul smell associated with decomposition.

10 to 20 Days After Death

Black putrefaction occurs between 10 to 20 days post-death. During this stage, the body turns black, bloats more, and continues to release fluids and odors. Nurse Julie explains, “This is the part when the body is literally decompensating and how we would die and how the body would die before we had things like mortuaries. So it is a very normal thing.”

Although most people aren’t exposed to this stage of death, Julie emphasizes that it’s a natural part of the process. “However, we usually aren’t exposed to it… but this is a natural part of the body decomposing,” she reminds us.

Julie’s work as a hospice nurse not only offers insight into the science of death but also challenges society to face this inevitable part of life with compassion and understanding. By breaking the silence, she hopes to inspire others to see death not as something to fear, but as a natural and meaningful transition.