Introduction: A burn occurs due to radiation, friction, contact with chemicals and electricity to the skin or other tissues. Burns are often a significant cause of disability and death. After an initial period of shock, wound infection is a common complication and the leading cause of death in patients with burns. Purpose: The purpose of this master's thesis is to present the most common causes of burn wounds, possible complications in the treatment, including infections and methods of medical treatment and care. We would also like to highlight the role of nurses in the nursing care of patients with burn wounds. Methods: The descriptive method with critical reading and analyzing of Slovenian and foreign literature was used. The empirical part contains monitoring infection of burn wounds from 2005 to 2012 in University Medical Centre Ljubljana. In our research we used data of 179 patients with burn wounds. With the help of SPSS we analyzed how the number of patients with burn wounds changes over the years and how frequency of burn wounds infections changes during treatment at the hospital. Results: Most common infections, found in patients with burn wounds, are caused by coagulase-negative staphylococci, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Acinetobacter baumannii and Staphylococcus aureus. The percentage of infected patients was higher in longer hospitalization, which is proportional to the burn degree. Most commonly prescribed antibiotics for the treatment of these infections are areamoxicillin with clavulanic acid, ciprofloxacin, vancomycin and imipenem. Discussion and conclusion: In University Medical Centre Ljubljana, the percentage of patients with documented infection of burn wounds decreases in recent years, despite the fact that the number of hospitalizations and length of stay did not change significantly. The situation is improving, but there are opportunities for further progress in nursing care of these patients.
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