Worst thing you have seen

gwenith, BSN, RN · May 11, 2004

I worked burn ICU. They are all sad there but I vividly remember 1 young man young family was working at a refinery when the chinker(sp?) - pile of hot ash and residue - slid down and burried him - his mates dug him out and his feet where his work boots were were untouched - the rest of him was dense full thickness burn.

lady_jezebel · May 13, 2004

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.

z's playa · May 13, 2004

:angryfire :crying2: :angryfire

ktwlpn, LPN · May 13, 2004

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 33 yr old husband of a co-worker was in an accident-hit a tree and was trapped in his burning pick-up.Only his left axilla and the lower left side of his face escaped injury-the rest of his body sustained full thickness burns.Unbelievable but he actually lived for close to a week- the family was having to decide between amputating his limbs or just letting him go but he made that choice for them and died.No one but immediate family actually saw him-it must have been horrible.

leslie :-D · May 14, 2004

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.... :crying2: :angryfire

Stitchie · May 14, 2004

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.

:crying2:

So sad.There must be a better way.

Stitchie · May 14, 2004

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.

HarfdMedlegal · May 14, 2004

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.

LydiaNN · May 14, 2004

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.

Energizer Bunny · May 15, 2004

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

FranEMTnurse, CNA, LPN, EMT-I · May 15, 2004

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 :crying2: :angryfire