Burn nurse competency utilization: Report from the 2019 annual American Burn Association Meeting

Abstract

Competence in healthcare is a recognized expectation by consumers. In 2018 following an extensive review and consensus-building process, burn nursing practice competencies were published. Clinical nurse leaders were called upon to use these published competencies in practice as a basis for the requisite knowledge and skills needed in the care of the burn-injured individual. In 2019 at the 51st Annual Meeting of the American Burn Association, nurses from four U.S. burn centers reported on their center’s incorporation of the competencies within their educational nursing curriculums. This paper provides a forum for each of the lead authors from Rhode Island Hospital Burn Center, the University of Utah Health Burn Trauma Intensive Care Unit, Parkland Regional Burn Center, and the University of Chicago Medicine Burn Center to outline their current utilization of the new burn nurse competencies and plans for future use. Competence in nursing practice is a recognized expectation by the U.S. healthcare consumer. The ability to demonstrate competence is also important to authoritative entities such as The Joint Commission (TJC) and other verifying agencies or societies (e.g., the American Burn Association for burn center verification). Without established and recognized standards of nursing care and documented educational preparation for staff, burn centers cannot ensure consistent and competent care.