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| Advertisement Sponsored Links | | | | No. 12 | 
Mar 10, 2008, 06:29 PM
 Re: The 'look' that people give you...
I know you will ahieve your goals. As another poster pointed out you have been there and done that. You can really understand what these patients are going through better then someone like myself who has never suffered that type of injury.
I think your story and experience will offer inspiration to your patients. I saw a NICU nurse featured on tv once time who decided to become one because she was born a preemie herself. She used to go through the pics that the nurses took of her and she was taken back every year to visit them. When she went to college she majored in nursing and then busted her chops to get into a NICU.
Some of the parents interviewed said that they had more hope for their babies after knowing that one of their caretakers was once that small and that sick.
 | | No. 13 |
Mar 25, 2008, 10:27 PM
Re: The 'look' that people give you...
Im a sup. of a SICU/BICU/TICU in a very large hospital and I get that look all the time, someones got to do it. My Sicu doubles as the burn unit and trauma unit, we get the worst of the worst.
| | No. 14 |
Mar 29, 2008, 12:41 AM
Re: The 'look' that people give you...
I am a burn nurse- I actually wait for the look when I tell people where and what I do. I wait to see if they are mortified, curious or both. There is so much more to it that burned skin and the smell. I absolutely enjoy every minute from the roll in the door doing fluid resusitation and gtts, tanking them to the roll out the door to rehab or the floor. I call after they have gone home to check on them and their families. I get to take care of the sickest patients that have the greatest chance of walking out of the hospital with long lives ahead of them. It is the one place I can use every nursing skill out there, it is also the warmest place in the hospital. And you really can feed people, no special diet other than high calories. Perfect place to work. I love it!
On anyone wanting to be a burn nurse:
To be a burn nurse you must never be afraid that you can give to much pain medicine, burns hurt intensely and holding back pain meds is cruel.
On a daily basis burn patients recieve 10mg morphine prn q 10 minutes during dressing changes alone. That's probably more than most nurses give in there career. That's a lot of morphine, burn patients stay on drips for months that would kill the rest of us. Burn pateints metabolize the pain med fast so you have to keep it coming. They need rest and it only comes with pain relief. That's my one nugget.
| | No. 15 |
Apr 02, 2008, 02:25 AM
Re: The 'look' that people give you... Originally Posted by babybluefeather  On anyone wanting to be a burn nurse:
To be a burn nurse you must never be afraid that you can give to much pain medicine, burns hurt intensely and holding back pain meds is cruel.
On a daily basis burn patients recieve 10mg morphine prn q 10 minutes during dressing changes alone. That's probably more than most nurses give in there career. That's a lot of morphine, burn patients stay on drips for months that would kill the rest of us. Burn pateints metabolize the pain med fast so you have to keep it coming. They need rest and it only comes with pain relief. That's my one nugget.
Thank you for that. Burns is a very unique specialty when it comes to pain. I'm new to this specialty and nursing, but not new to working in a hospital, so I was shocked initially at how much pain medication some patients were getting. I've come to realize that everyone is different in terms of pain management. I always ask for pain meds if what's ordered is not working for the patient, especially during burn care.
| | No. 16 |
Apr 06, 2008, 12:46 PM
Re: The 'look' that people give you...
I know it may be hard, but as someone who has survived the trauma of massive burns, I can tell you that the nurses who cared for me were top notch. I remember my first night in the BICU in Staten Island, there was a tiny little nurse. She had to be 7 or 8 months pregnant at the time. I told her I was scared, and did not want to die, and burn wards were where they sent firemen to die...
She sat with me, held my hand, and did not leave my room that entire first night. She was off shift about 6 hours when she felt I was "ok" enough to head home. I will always remember her fondly, and will say she, and the other nurses of the BICU at SIUH.... You are the reason I am going into the field now. And God bless anyone who can make another human as panicked as I was calm.
Never think the look is a bad one my friend. Chin up high and proud.
| | No. 18 |
Apr 12, 2008, 04:35 PM
Re: The 'look' that people give you... Originally Posted by jfioredda I know it may be hard, but as someone who has survived the trauma of massive burns, I can tell you that the nurses who cared for me were top notch. I remember my first night in the BICU in Staten Island, there was a tiny little nurse. She had to be 7 or 8 months pregnant at the time. I told her I was scared, and did not want to die, and burn wards were where they sent firemen to die...
She sat with me, held my hand, and did not leave my room that entire first night. She was off shift about 6 hours when she felt I was "ok" enough to head home. I will always remember her fondly, and will say she, and the other nurses of the BICU at SIUH.... You are the reason I am going into the field now. And God bless anyone who can make another human as panicked as I was calm.
Never think the look is a bad one my friend. Chin up high and proud.
I'm from Staten Island and know that hospital well, from when it was a little brick building on Castleton Avenue.
Some of you guys have guts. And love. Thank you for what you do.
| | No. 19 |
Apr 14, 2008, 06:49 AM
Re: The 'look' that people give you... Originally Posted by ihave206bones I just recently got a job in a Burn ICU. When I tell people I got a new job, they ask what hospital, and then which unit. When I tell them Burn ICU, I get that 'look'. The one that just screams "omg, you're crazy!" or "better you than me." I get this from my current RN coworkers as well.
I can only guess that for many nurses, Burn ICU is not something for them. I'm actually looking forward to this experience. I know it will be tough, but I want to be the best nurse I can be.
-Kevin
I have noticed the same thing. My best friend and I are in the program together, and he is going to work in a Cardiac ICU. When we talk to people they are like cool working with hearts. When I say Trauma/Burn, I get the same "Ewwww Burns". Thanks to reading this thread and all those stories, it seems to bother me a lot less now.
Thanks for all the encouragement!
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I was initially treated at Tampa General Hospital but received a majority of my care from the Shriners Hospital in Cincinnati. My nurses were the absolute best!!! My dream is to be able to give the same excellent treatment back to other burn patients. I want them to be able to look at me and see that there is hope and life after fire. 
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