The pivotal role of nursing personnel in burn care

• Main Author: Elisabeth Greenfield
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Thieme Medical Publishers, Inc. 2010-09-01
• Series: Indian Journal of Plastic Surgery
• Subjects: role of nurses; holistic approach; evidence based medicine; critical pathways
• Online Access: http://www.thieme-connect.de/DOI/DOI?10.1055/s-0039-1699466

The nurses play an important role in the overall management of a burn patient. They must be well versed with the various protocols available that can be used to rationally manage a given situation. The management not only involves medical care but also a psychological assessment of the victim and the family. The process uses a scientific method to combine systems theory with the art of nursing, entailing both problem solving techniques and a decision making process. It involves assessment of the patient to arrive at a diagnosis and then determining the patient goals. An action plan is implemented and is evaluated in the context of patient response. The article discusses many such scenarios in burn patients and outlines the nursing care plans.