burn wound
The skin contains epithelium, which is made up of cells that act as barriers between the internal body contents and the external environment. Being the largest body organ, the skin plays an important role in protecting other internal organs. The various three layers, epidermis dermis and hypodermis, are important in achieving the protective function.
When tissue burns occur, they involve coagulation and microvascular reactions. Severe burns lead to the loss of skin barrier, increasing vasoactive mediators’ production from the injured areas.
Pathophysiology
It is important to understand the pathophysiology of a burn wound for better management. There are different injury patterns caused by different causes. When the body temperatures rise above the optimal value, there is a risk of denatured protein, affecting body cells. The effect on the injury is the development of an acute inflammatory response. When the burns are above 20%, the body responds through protective inflammation. Without the management of the burns, a patient can suffer from sepsis and trauma.
Pathophysiology.
It is important to understand the pathophysiology of a burn wound for better management. There are different injury patterns caused by different causes. When the body temperatures rise above the optimal value, there is a risk of proteins being denatured, affecting body cells (Nielson et al. 2017). The effect on the injury is the development of an acute inflammatory response. When the burns are above 20%, the body responds through protective inflammation. Without the management of the burns, a patient can suffer from sepsis and trauma.
Clinical Manifestations.
There are three categories of burns; first, second, and third-degree in the medical field, depending on burn severity. The different clinical manifestations are relying on the severity of the injury. The first-degree burn changes skin color and causes little pain to the patient, while the second degree occurs more dangerous signs, and symptoms occur (Caruso & Matthews, 2016). The clinical manifestations of most burns include blisters, excruciating pain, pealing off the skin, red skin, swelling, and shock from the patients. In the third stage, the patient losses skin sensation.
Treatments/Rationales
To treat the burns, the care providers stop the burning by removing the burned clothing from the affected body parts. The second phase is cooling the burn using coolants, preferably cold water, and protecting the affected areas with sterile or non-adhesive clean clothing. The final stage is using pain relievers and dressing the wound with appropriate medicine. Most noteworthy, third-degree burns require skin grafts to replace the tissues. As a result, the treatment requires quick medical attention to reduce the severity.
Nursing Priorities
When treating burns, nurses care prioritizes preventing further skin damage by cooling the affected areas with cold water and removing all the burned clothing from the body. Besides, nursing care prioritizes reducing the patient’s pain and oedema by immersing the affected areas in cold water (Urden, Stacy & Lough, 2019). The nurses then apply the appropriate medication to help in healing the wound before dressing the affected areas. Most noteworthy, they have a significant role in assessing the patient regularly to achieve the desired optimal outcomes.