elohrasbi

Thanks you guys. That really helps, by giving me a good way to think about it :-). I guess I wasn't prepared for that part of this job, but next time I will be.

The typical day in the Burn ICU where I work starts out with assessments, checking orders, meds. Then everyone gets together & goes around to all the patients who need dressing changes (it's faster to work together, since you need people for holding, turning, etc.). Patients go to surgery, or to hydrotherapy a lot (done by PT), so there's prep for that... otherwise, it's monitoring for complications & making sure patients are comfortable. The morning is busier than the afternoon. Also, where I work they get direct burn patient admits from the helicopter that don't go through the ER. So that can always happen and make for an eventful day. Good luck with getting the job. I'm a new grad and have been in the BICU for 2 weeks. Learning lots!

Hi all, I passed NCLEX & have just done my first two weeks in Burn ICU. Still trying to figure out whether I love it or hate it. My stomach seems to be ok ~ I've seen a few 90% burns, escharotomies, had patients die, all of that... but I had an experience the other day where I had to cause pain that really shook me up. I mean, here is this woman who has just finished telling me about her flower garden, & then I have to make her cry & beg me to stop. I wanted to give her more pain meds, but apparently she's very sensitive to morphine & they wanted to keep her at a level she could "tolerate". I suppose she tolerated it, afterwards she was fine... but it was very painful for both of us. I hated having to do that. If I could do it over perhaps I'd use some non-pharm methods, like visualization? I don't know. I'm trying to find a way to reconcile having to cause pain. Anyone out there have suggestions?