Why do you Nurse in the Burn unit ?

clgmezzo · Jun 15, 2005

i did a rotation in our regional burn unit which is situated in a regional pediatric hospital and takes both adults and children of all ages and burn types. it was the facility at which the skin culturing was developed. afterward i was enthralled, and when the chance came to accept a job there after i had been nursing a while i jumped at it. it is the mosdt rewarding nursing i have ever done, and will always be my favorite nursing for the rest of my life i think. it seems that either people are built for it and love it and are all about it, or cant do it, and as for me, i love it.

Juststartingout · Nov 8, 2005

My opinion may not count here since I'm not a nurse yet, but in the future if I have a chance to work in a Burn unit I most definitely would take it on.

You see, my daughter, at the young of barely 7, was burned and the care she received in the Unit was excellent. I learned SO much. I was very scared..but the Team was very professional and comforting too. Sure, one goes through alot in this Unit, but seeing a patient improve OR just being able to comfort them and help them through from my own personal experience would be wonderful!

So, that would be why I would choose Nursing in a Burn Unit. I'll be interested to read the others!

Forever10 · Dec 28, 2005

I am not an RN yet, but am working toward it, beginning with my preqreqs. Jan. 18. 2006. I desire to work at Vanderbilt's Burn unit once I graduate, for I had a friend yrs. ago who's young son was burned very badly over about 80 % of his body, due to a lighter exploding in his hand. (in a closet, where he was sitting) Whenever I would visit him, it would make me weep. He was starved for human contact, as his mother basically kept him hidden away, due to the grotesque look the severe burns had left him with. He had no face or ears. His skin was like leather. I would just hold him (7), while tears streamed down his face, and tell him he was the kindest person I'd ever met and that it's not what's on the outside, but his beautiful heart that really mattered most. I always saw that he needed to hear those words of comfort... This life exp. left me with a deep desire to help other children, who've been badly burned, due to some horrible circumstance, in any way I can. God willing, as a Nurse I will be able to care for and comfort other burn victims.

Peace,

Faith

grannynurse FNP student · Dec 28, 2005

I have not worked in a burn unit, in years but remember the time I spent working in a regional one, in upstate NY. We took in patients from a wide geographic area and all ages. We were constantly learning because burn treatment was constantly changing. We learned how to deal with pain and patient and family behavior. At the time, we were ahead of others, in that we had weekly, mandatory conferences to discuss our issues with patients and famlies. I enjoyed my time there and left only because the four year old son of a friend die, in my arms, as a result of his injury. I did rotate to the unit when they were short staffed.

Grannynurse

geekgolightly, BSN, RN · Dec 28, 2005

I am not an RN yet, but am working toward it, beginning with my preqreqs. Jan. 18. 2006. I desire to work at Vanderbilt's Burn unit once I graduate, for I had a friend yrs. ago who's young son was burned very badly over about 80 % of his body, due to a lighter exploding in his hand. (in a closet, where he was sitting) Whenever I would visit him, it would make me weep. He was starved for human contact, as his mother basically kept him hidden away, due to the grotesque look the severe burns had left him with. He had no face or ears. His skin was like leather. I would just hold him (7), while tears streamed down his face, and tell him he was the kindest person I'd ever met and that it's not what's on the outside, but his beautiful heart that really mattered most. I always saw that he needed to hear those words of comfort... This life exp. left me with a deep desire to help other children, who've been badly burned, due to some horrible circumstance, in any way I can. God willing, as a Nurse I will be able to care for and comfort other burn victims.
Peace,
Faith

Do you mind telling me how he is now, if you know? This brought tears to my eyes. I wish his mom could find a way to deal with this in a happier way.

Forever10 · Dec 28, 2005

His mother, unfortunately was quite flipped out/unstable. I haven't seen them in a very long time as this was in Miami. I was sad for this child as I saw his mother's state and couldn't do very much for her or get thru to her. My heart was broken for this boy. I lost touch when I moved to Tn. about 7 or 8 yrs. ago, so I wouldn't know how things turned out for them. I only pray this boy is well and happy and remembers good things that have happened in his life.

Peace,

Faith

Juststartingout · Dec 28, 2005

Yes..I too would like to know how he AND his mother are doing? It can be very hard on a parent, though it's the parent(s) strength, love and acceptance that will bring a child through. Bless you Faith!

I hope, for his mothers sake, that she has or will talk to a family counselor or pastor or someone who can help her cope. Support is so important.

Next week..I begin my pre-req's for my Nursing degree! And it is my own daughters experience that brings me to Nursing, as well as other family members, as stated in a previous post.

Sonja

Forever10 · Dec 29, 2005

As I recall, when I left Miami, the state of this Mother's heart unfortunately was filled with greed, as apparently she had sued this lighter Co. that the child was burned by. The mother was, as far as I could tell, also hiding this child away, for she feared someone would get close to him and get the funds that were going to be his once he reached legal age. This is a very tragic story and I apologize if the sharing of it has upset anyone out there, but I guess the true stories are the hardest to accept sometimes. Before I left there, I tried to help this mother to look to the LOrd and not the money, but she wasn't listening. Today I could not say what became of this family, for it was many yrs. ago. This woman was someone I had befriended for a short time, but my circumstances changed and I saw that I personally couldn't help the situation any longer. I recall the HRS was investigating her around the time I moved out of state. This type of thing makes you pray more, for sadly there are many children all over this world who are suffering for one reason or another. May God Bless and protect the children.

Peace,

Faith

geekgolightly, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2005

May God Bless and protect the children.

amen

ICURN_NC · Dec 30, 2005

before i graduated, i spent 8 weeks working in the burn center here. i was offered a job, but chose not to take it.

pros: diverse patient population: infants, peds, adults, pysch, trauma, chronic medical conditions, etc. the staff (all staff- the unit clerks to the cna's to the nurses to the nurse educators) were the hardest working and most cohesive staff i've ever seen. lots of oppurtunities to learn about a variety of medical conditions and treatments. kind of like a whole nursing school education in one package.

cons: it was just so damn hard. the unit is often chronically understaffed. the patients are so complex that i couldn't keep up half the time- you know it's not just the burn, but kidney failure from the trauma, broken bones from the mvc, etc... the baths/dressing changes were very hot and long. all of the nurses in our hospital generally agree that the burn nurses are the hardest working nurses in our institution. what the patients have to go thru is heart-wrenching.

i think i did a good job while i was there- but i chose to stay in the micu i had worked in while i was in school. i think i just wasn't ready to take on burns as a full-time job.

good luck with your project!

Brainyheart · Jun 11, 2006

Hi...I'm not an RN yet either (May 2007, with God's help!), but I also feel led to burn nursing and I hope I can become a CNS in burn/wound care. I just have a sense that burn patients are sometimes among the "least and littlest" (even if they're adults), and I want to serve that need. What little I know has revealed to me the tremendous suffering that these patients and their families undergo, and I guess I want to throw my weight---in the form of my clinical skill and compassion----against anything that keeps them from finding consolation, relief and restoration. I am also amazed---awed, really---at the pathophysiology of burns. I have also heard many times that burn units are really built on teamwork, and I am really drawn to that aspect of it.

I don't know if I am saying any of this the way I mean it. I just need to follow the path until I find out it's right or wrong. But I bless and applaud anyone who is doing this work. :yelclap:

I am presently reading (while also doing Chem review, Pharm and Statistics!) Barbara Savage's Burn Unit. Any thoughts/opinions on it? I've heard that it is straight-on as far as the reality goes.