Identifying the needs of family members in burn care-nurses' different approaches

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore how nurses in burn care identify family members' needs of support and what support the nurses offer. Family members are an important source of short- and long-term support for burn survivors. Being a family member in burn specific as well as general care can be challenging in several ways. Nurses are recognized as well as positioned in the team for assessing and providing such support; however, little is known about how this is done. This is an explorative study with a qualitative descriptive design. Fourteen semistructured interviews with registered nurses working in national burn centers were recorded digitally, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using Systematic text condensation. The analysis resulted in four themes reflecting different approaches to assess the needs of family members: Active, Emotional, Passive, and Rejective Approach. Nurses in this study demonstrated different approaches to assessing needs in family members; it is possible that these differences may affect what support family members receive. Therefore, the importance of theoretical education, professional views, and local ward culture should be highlighted in ongoing work in improving care within burn care as well as similar health care contexts.