Burn patients who became burn nurses

[kristykat, BSN, RN]

How many of you burn nurses were once burn patients yourselves? How many of you have visible burn scars?

I was burned back in 1982 when I was 4 years old. I have visible scars on my face, chest, and both arms/hands. I also have a smoke inhalation injury which resulted in scar tissue formation on my vocal cords so I have a very soft child-like voice. I received excellent care from Tampa General Hospital in FL and the Shriner's Hospital in Cincinnati. I will be completing my first semester of nursing school on Friday while on my way to becoming a burn nurse myself. I never had a nurse or doctor who had visible burns...so just out of curiosity, I was wondering how many were out there.

[Chris787n]

Hey, I know this is a super duper late response. But it hits home, so I replied! lol. Well I was the victim of a flash fire in my garage when I was 1 years old. Yep 1 years old. Suffered 3rd degree burns to over 60% of my body. Little piece of my face, arms, both legs and some back. And surprisingly instead of fearing fire and being queasy. It has been a strong motivator for me to go into this field. I love what the nurses did for me, and even though i wasnt necesasarily old enough to remember that respect is a big reason why I am going into the field. That or working in the ER heh. I hear they may want us guys in there.

[luvflowers]

I was burned when I was 1. I have huge visible scars on my arms. I did my practicum on a burn unit and got a job also as a burn RN. I loved it. Sadly our burn unit was small and had us float to ICU most of the time and other units, and I absolutely hated ICU. So I decided to look for something else.

Good luck!

[NiceOnce]

I was actually burned severally at a very young age. Throughout my youth I was actually united with many others who had bad burns. It was strange how that connected us. I would love to treat more burn victims in the future.