Worst thing you have seen

The child abuse. I remember one 3-year old who was immersed by his mother into hot water. He underwent multiple surgical debridements, for he kept getting infections, and he was bandaged all the way up to his neck. His arms had to be kept in restraints so he didn't pick at the bandages. He had post-traumatic syndrome - he needed someone to be with him at all times just to reassure him that he was OK. He would awake from naps screaming and crying. He was a twin (brother not burned) -- they were dark skinned (African-American), but the burned child lost most of his pigment from the neck down due to the burns. His dad was in jail, and mother investigated for child abuse. The social worker told us that most likely the kid would be returned to the abusive mother -- the system is so screwed up.

:angryfire :angryfire

Hi all,

Burn unit is another one of my intersts.

I was just wondering, what is the worst thing you have seen?(most disgusting, saddest ect...)

The child abuse. I remember one 3-year old who was immersed by his mother into hot water. He underwent multiple surgical debridements, for he kept getting infections, and he was bandaged all the way up to his neck. His arms had to be kept in restraints so he didn't pick at the bandages. He had post-traumatic syndrome - he needed someone to be with him at all times just to reassure him that he was OK. He would awake from naps screaming and crying. He was a twin (brother not burned) -- they were dark skinned (African-American), but the burned child lost most of his pigment from the neck down due to the burns. His dad was in jail, and mother investigated for child abuse. The social worker told us that most likely the kid would be returned to the abusive mother -- the system is so screwed up.

i am so with z.... :angryfire

The child abuse. I remember one 3-year old who was immersed by his mother into hot water. He underwent multiple surgical debridements, for he kept getting infections, and he was bandaged all the way up to his neck. His arms had to be kept in restraints so he didn't pick at the bandages. He had post-traumatic syndrome - he needed someone to be with him at all times just to reassure him that he was OK. He would awake from naps screaming and crying. He was a twin (brother not burned) -- they were dark skinned (African-American), but the burned child lost most of his pigment from the neck down due to the burns. His dad was in jail, and mother investigated for child abuse. The social worker told us that most likely the kid would be returned to the abusive mother -- the system is so screwed up.

So sad.There must be a better way.

No matter where anyone else works, it takes someone superhuman to work in burns.

It's something I could never do; I know that in my soul.

Best wishes to those of you who are able to do so, day in and day out. I'll take my looking-for-the-valium-lick-in-triage goofy ED patients with a smile on my face and a song in my heart after seeing some of your posts.

You have my utmost respect.

No matter where anyone else works, it takes someone superhuman to work in burns.

It's something I could never do; I know that in my soul.

Best wishes to those of you who are able to do so, day in and day out. I'll take my looking-for-the-valium-lick-in-triage goofy ED patients with a smile on my face and a song in my heart after seeing some of your posts.

You have my utmost respect.

Hello all! I'm new to this board. I hope to get to know everyone. :-)

I worked in our local burn unit many years ago. None of us nurses were superhuman. We were just as human as anyone else and, what's more important, we recognized that our patients were too, despite the physical and emotional trauma they were going through. It's the hardest job I ever worked, the most challenging, and yet, the most satisfying.

I guess the most difficult thing for me, was losing our pediatric patients especially. That was heart-wrenching. The child abuse victims were too. The next thing, was knowing the reality, and the public censure, that each patient might face once he/she left our unit; especially if there were facial cosmetic challenges to meet. You could feel their fear and uncertainty, their need to be treated just like any other human being. It was heart-breaking to watch our older children leaving, afraid to go back to school. We did everything we could to make the transition as painless as possible.

The child abuse. I remember one 3-year old who was immersed by his mother into hot water. He underwent multiple surgical debridements, for he kept getting infections, and he was bandaged all the way up to his neck. His arms had to be kept in restraints so he didn't pick at the bandages. He had post-traumatic syndrome - he needed someone to be with him at all times just to reassure him that he was OK. He would awake from naps screaming and crying. He was a twin (brother not burned) -- they were dark skinned (African-American), but the burned child lost most of his pigment from the neck down due to the burns. His dad was in jail, and mother investigated for child abuse. The social worker told us that most likely the kid would be returned to the abusive mother -- the system is so screwed up.

Yep to the likelihood of the court returning the child. Fresh out of college, I thought I was going to make my contribution to society by working for the County Foster Care program. That lasted all of four months. A 5 year old boy who was removed from his home after his mom was sentenced to 18 months for involuntary manslaughter in the scalding death of this boy's baby brother (it happened during an alcohol induced blackout) was placed in a loving foster home and showed remarkable improvement. Then Mom was released and granted first supervised and then unsupervised visits. He would come back to the foster home crying and acting out for days. The parents agreed to put their other son, a 2 year old, up for adoption, but petitioned for reunification with this child. They got it! Absolutely unbelievable. I can't even mention all the reasons this child should *not* have been returned! I still wonder about him sometimes. That experience was plenty to convince me that I could never impact that screwed up system in any meaningful way.

I completely agree with what Stitchie said!!! You are all fabulous and I don't think burns is an area I could do.

The child abuse. I remember one 3-year old who was immersed by his mother into hot water. He underwent multiple surgical debridements, for he kept getting infections, and he was bandaged all the way up to his neck. His arms had to be kept in restraints so he didn't pick at the bandages. He had post-traumatic syndrome - he needed someone to be with him at all times just to reassure him that he was OK. He would awake from naps screaming and crying. He was a twin (brother not burned) -- they were dark skinned (African-American), but the burned child lost most of his pigment from the neck down due to the burns. His dad was in jail, and mother investigated for child abuse. The social worker told us that most likely the kid would be returned to the abusive mother -- the system is so screwed up.

That makes two of us!!!:angryfire :angryfire

Yep to the likelihood of the court returning the child. Fresh out of college, I thought I was going to make my contribution to society by working for the County Foster Care program. That lasted all of four months. A 5 year old boy who was removed from his home after his mom was sentenced to 18 months for involuntary manslaughter in the scalding death of this boy's baby brother (it happened during an alcohol induced blackout) was placed in a loving foster home and showed remarkable improvement. Then Mom was released and granted first supervised and then unsupervised visits. He would come back to the foster home crying and acting out for days. The parents agreed to put their other son, a 2 year old, up for adoption, but petitioned for reunification with this child. They got it! Absolutely unbelievable. I can't even mention all the reasons this child should *not* have been returned! I still wonder about him sometimes. That experience was plenty to convince me that I could never impact that screwed up system in any meaningful way.

I made up a list of all of the elementary kids, and then would rotate who got to work the bus door at both their school, and the high school. When I came to her name, I called her up by me and asked her if she would like to work the door. She looked at the handle so longingly, it touched my heart. Then she looked up at me and shook her head no, and went back to her seat. When her father met her at the bus door, he would always say, "Come on brat!" I could have hit him over the head with a club. The mother was no better. She was filthy; every time I saw her she had dirty clothes on, and her was uncombed.

Then one day as I was returning the kids home from school, I met the little girl's mother with all her kids and another adult woman leaving home. When I arrived at the house, (I always waited for the kids to try the door to see if it was locked. If it was, I took the child back to the bus company with me where the parents could be notified as to the child's whereabouts. If the door was unlocked, and having some latchkey kids on my bus, I would wait until he/she got inside the door before I left.) She got off the bus, and walked up to the door. When she reached up to turn the handle, the door opened slitely before she made contact with it, and she was let inside.:angryfire Let me tell you, I had all I could do to refrain from calling the authorities.

Not long after that, her teacher approached the bus one morning, asking if she was on. I of course told her no. She then said, "That girl! I don't know what I'm going to do with her!" I looked at her and said, (hoping she would report what I told her) "I know she is being abused." She replied, "Yes, life is tough." :uhoh21: I could not believe what I was hearing!! There she was that little girl's teacher, who was by law, ordered to report suspected child abuse, or at least send her to the nurse for an examination of her body, and did NOTHING:angryfire

I will always remember that poor little girl, and wonder if she even grew up.