Re: Thinking of burn nursing........
To help patients deal with pain we give them lots of drugs, mostly narcotics. Generally, we see (10-20) oxycodone q4h, dilaudid for break through pain and fentanyl for dressing changes. On top of that, I talk to them, acknowledge their pain, help them with breathing techniques and go as quickly as possible; I say often, "I'm sorry to cause you more pain. I understand this is terrible, but this is going to make it easier for you later." I'm a new nurse who went right into a Burn ICU and I'm still coming to terms with having to cause patients pain; and we cause a lot of pain. Pain is unavoidable when recovering from a burn. I must scrub the dead skin off, I must move them to change the bed and change dressings or just for extra PT- all of this painful, not to mention the other stuff... constipation, multiple tubes/IVs that restrict movement, utter lack of privacy and independence. I dream of terrible things (one way I deal with things) and I talk to people. I have to deal with what I see and smell (horrible injuries, some of which were accidents, some done to themselves, some done by "loved ones"), I have to deal with my own fear of incompetence (being so new), I have to deal with the fact that some people won't make it. And, like you said, I have to deal with causing them pain. I just try to remember the fact that despite the pain, I am helping them and they'll be worse off if I don't do it.
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