Nurses Experiences in the Burn Unit: A Qualitative Research

BACKGROUND: Nurses form the largest group of burn care treatment team. They have valuable experiences regarding the care of burned patients that needs to be explored. Therefore, the present study was aimed to explain the experiences of nurses who work in the burn unit. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted in the burn units of Zabol and Zahedan Hospitals in 2018. Accordingly, the data were collected through a semi-structured deep interview with 16 nurses. Purposeful sampling method was used for data collection. The data were analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: The data analysis ultimately led to the development of 4 themes and 16 sub-themes. The extracted themes included burden of burn unit, toil of burn unit as a deal with God, need for continuing the education program, and work-life imbalance. CONCLUSIONS: Nurses in burn unit experience many challenges that can affect their job and life, which require special attention of the authorities, their families, and other colleagues. For better patient care, there is a need for up-to-date facilities and training. The hospital managers should pay more attention to the nursing staff of the burn units through increasing staff number, changing the working units, and offering financial and motivational vacations.