First timer - Burn Unit

Awesome job! I rotated between hem/onc and burn. NO one ever wanted to go there. I loved it..............No advice other than be prepared to cause pain and be prepared to help control/eliminate it so the patient can tolerate life with burns.

Hugs,

renerian

Its a very hard but rewarding job. You will become accustomed to handing out large doses of narcotics and even larger doses of pain. But this is a job unlike any other because you truely get to bond with these patients and know that you are helping them recover. They will never forget you or the work that you do. My advice is to watch closely and ask lots of questions. You will see so many different things on this unit that you may not find anywhere else in the hospital. We do so many new procedures and so many different dressings each and everyday. I hope that you will love the unit as much as I do. I am currently a CNA on mine and I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Good luck!!! I just left a BU, the city I moved to doesn't have one. Go into it with an open mind and a rock hard stomach. Be sure to give plenty of pain meds. Undermedication was a big issue where I just left. I found that people either love it or hate it. I hope you are the first one. It is definately a calling and I hope you have it we need more of you out there. Enjoy and get to know your patients and families. I think it is the most rewarding area to go into.

Good luck and keep us posted.

renerian

Probably the worst thing that I have ever seen is a full body case of Stevens Johnsons. It was a man who was literally a head to toe wound that we had to peel. Bloody mess! Oh and the escarodomies are nasty as well!

We had a couple of cases of Steven - Johnson syndromes. The amount of pain those poor people had!!! It was made worse by the silver nitrate solution that we treated them with. I often wonder how these patients would go if some of the newer dressing materials were used.