Editorial Editor Claire Picton Managing editor Nick Lipley Tel: +44 (0)20 8872 3166 Email: [email protected] Managing director Rhonda Oliver Editor in chief Jean Gray Senior editor Gary Bell Assistant editor Sophie Blakemore Acting assistant editor Jennifer Sprinks Head of production Fiona Maclean Senior production editor Julie Hickey Production editor Duncan Tyler Art directors Ken McLoone, Paul Swainson Designer Sujata Aurora Picture editor Phil Brecht Deputy picture editor Helen Jones Digital director John Day IT and new media manager Alex Oldfield Web editor Amanda Carter
How much advice should we give?
BUSINESS UNIT Commercial director Tony O’Rourke PA to commercial director Kim Sanders Head of marketing Helen Sumner Deputy head of marketing Michelle Day Marketing executive Louise Gallagher Group educational projects manager Laura Downes Display advertisements Tel: +44 (0)20 8872 3123 Advertisement and sponsorship sales manager Neil Hobson Senior sponsorship and advertising specialist Julia Gomersall Advertisement and sponsorship executives Rachel Fisher, Kelly Smith Advertisement production executive Sally Gauntlett Classified advertisements Tel: +44 (0)20 8423 1333 Classified advertisement manager Andy McCallum Sales project specialist Freddie Collier Classified advertisement executives Mandy Croggon, Shona Gethin
The front cover picture, of a lit gas ring, suggests a common way in which people receive such injuries. But it is worth remembering, as summer approaches, that the sun can burn people too. Faye Murphy and Jeshi Amblum refer in their article (page 24) to ‘burn wound conversion’, and how burns can increase in depth and severity if they are treated inadequately or become infected. The authors’ warnings also apply to sunburn, especially in people who, once burnt, expose themselves to the sun again.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Jim Bethel Senior lecturer and nurse practitioner in emergency care, University of Wolverhampton Hannah Bryant Resuscitation officer, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham Jennifer Critchley Urgent care centre emergency nurse practitioner, Benalla, and senior lecturer, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Shelley Cummings Senior sister A&E, Royal Surrey County Hospital Rachel Lyons Assistant clinical professor of nursing, Rutgers University, Newark NJ Lorna McInulty Senior lecturer in emergency and unscheduled care, University of Central Lancashire Mike Paynter Consultant nurse, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Andrew Rideout Advanced nurse practitioner, emergency department, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary Linsey Sheerin Clinical education practitioner, emergency department, Mater Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
In attempts to set a gold standard of care for patients with burns who do not require hospital admission, there has long been a debate about whether blisters should be de-roofed or left intact.
EMERGENCY NURSE RCN Publishing Company The Heights, 59-65 Lowlands Road Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex HA1 3AW
Murphy and Amblum’s literature review presents evidence for both points of view. However, in areas of care where there is little or conflicting evidence for specific forms of treatment, practitioners
Emergency Nurse is indexed, abstracted and/or published online in the following media: British Nursing Index, CINAHL, Medline and Ovid ABC APPLICATION APPROVED 8,160 (Jan-Dec 2013) SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT Royal College of Nursing Journal subscription department, Copse Walk, Cardiff Gate Business Park, Cardiff CF23 8XG. Tel: +44 (0)345 772 6100 Personal rates for print edition: from £66 a year in the UK and Europe, and from £121 a year in the rest of the world. Institutional print edition rates: from £446 a year Email: [email protected] ©2014 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers. ISSN 1354-5752 (print). ISSN 2047-8984 (online) Printed by Stephens and George, Merthyr Tydfil Acceptance of an advertisement does not constitute a recommendation or an endorsement of a product or service, either by the RCN or RCN Publishing en.rcnpublishing.com
Should practitioners take into account patients’ smoking habits when assessing whether or not to debride their burn blisters?
Editor
should be guided by their professional experience and common sense. Should practitioners take into account patients’ smoking habits when assessing whether or not to debride their burn blisters, for example? Should they consider whether patients have had the best nutrient intake or have drunk enough water to ensure that their wounds heal well? Murphy and Amblum mention that patients should be advised about the care of burns as they heal and suggest the use of high factor sun protection for up to two years after injury. But, in my experience, different practitioners advise the use of sun block instead, or say that sun protection should be used for one year only. Do we have time to provide all this information, equivocal as it may be, in urgent and emergency care settings? Would patients and their relatives remember it all, or read it all if we provided it? And is there evidence that such advice would improve clinical outcomes? Claire Picton is consultant in emergency care nursing at the Hillingdon Hospital, Middlesex
Our mission Emergency Nurse encourages innovation and promotes professional excellence in all pre-hospital and emergency care settings. The journal is editorially independent and opinions expressed in it do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Royal College of Nursing or those of contributors’ employing organisations.
Follow us: @ENJournalRCN EMERGENCY NURSE
Claire Picton
This month’s issue of Emergency Nurse features an article on managing minor burns. It addresses the specific question of when to debride blisters and when to leave them intact.
ADMINISTRATION Administration manager Helen Hyland Email: [email protected] Administration assistant Sandra Lynch
Read more at: nursingblog.rcnpublishing.co.uk
Visit us at: Emergency Nurse May 2014 | Volume 22 | Number 2
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 05, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
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How much advice should we give?
BUSINESS UNIT Commercial director Tony O’Rourke PA to commercial director Kim Sanders Head of marketing Helen Sumner Deputy head of marketing Michelle Day Marketing executive Louise Gallagher Group educational projects manager Laura Downes Display advertisements Tel: +44 (0)20 8872 3123 Advertisement and sponsorship sales manager Neil Hobson Senior sponsorship and advertising specialist Julia Gomersall Advertisement and sponsorship executives Rachel Fisher, Kelly Smith Advertisement production executive Sally Gauntlett Classified advertisements Tel: +44 (0)20 8423 1333 Classified advertisement manager Andy McCallum Sales project specialist Freddie Collier Classified advertisement executives Mandy Croggon, Shona Gethin
The front cover picture, of a lit gas ring, suggests a common way in which people receive such injuries. But it is worth remembering, as summer approaches, that the sun can burn people too. Faye Murphy and Jeshi Amblum refer in their article (page 24) to ‘burn wound conversion’, and how burns can increase in depth and severity if they are treated inadequately or become infected. The authors’ warnings also apply to sunburn, especially in people who, once burnt, expose themselves to the sun again.
EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Jim Bethel Senior lecturer and nurse practitioner in emergency care, University of Wolverhampton Hannah Bryant Resuscitation officer, Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham Jennifer Critchley Urgent care centre emergency nurse practitioner, Benalla, and senior lecturer, University of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Shelley Cummings Senior sister A&E, Royal Surrey County Hospital Rachel Lyons Assistant clinical professor of nursing, Rutgers University, Newark NJ Lorna McInulty Senior lecturer in emergency and unscheduled care, University of Central Lancashire Mike Paynter Consultant nurse, Somerset Partnership NHS Foundation Trust Andrew Rideout Advanced nurse practitioner, emergency department, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary Linsey Sheerin Clinical education practitioner, emergency department, Mater Hospital, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust
In attempts to set a gold standard of care for patients with burns who do not require hospital admission, there has long been a debate about whether blisters should be de-roofed or left intact.
EMERGENCY NURSE RCN Publishing Company The Heights, 59-65 Lowlands Road Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex HA1 3AW
Murphy and Amblum’s literature review presents evidence for both points of view. However, in areas of care where there is little or conflicting evidence for specific forms of treatment, practitioners
Emergency Nurse is indexed, abstracted and/or published online in the following media: British Nursing Index, CINAHL, Medline and Ovid ABC APPLICATION APPROVED 8,160 (Jan-Dec 2013) SUBSCRIPTION DEPARTMENT Royal College of Nursing Journal subscription department, Copse Walk, Cardiff Gate Business Park, Cardiff CF23 8XG. Tel: +44 (0)345 772 6100 Personal rates for print edition: from £66 a year in the UK and Europe, and from £121 a year in the rest of the world. Institutional print edition rates: from £446 a year Email: [email protected] ©2014 RCN Publishing Company Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be copied, transmitted or recorded in any way, in whole or part, without prior permission of the publishers. ISSN 1354-5752 (print). ISSN 2047-8984 (online) Printed by Stephens and George, Merthyr Tydfil Acceptance of an advertisement does not constitute a recommendation or an endorsement of a product or service, either by the RCN or RCN Publishing en.rcnpublishing.com
Should practitioners take into account patients’ smoking habits when assessing whether or not to debride their burn blisters?
Editor
should be guided by their professional experience and common sense. Should practitioners take into account patients’ smoking habits when assessing whether or not to debride their burn blisters, for example? Should they consider whether patients have had the best nutrient intake or have drunk enough water to ensure that their wounds heal well? Murphy and Amblum mention that patients should be advised about the care of burns as they heal and suggest the use of high factor sun protection for up to two years after injury. But, in my experience, different practitioners advise the use of sun block instead, or say that sun protection should be used for one year only. Do we have time to provide all this information, equivocal as it may be, in urgent and emergency care settings? Would patients and their relatives remember it all, or read it all if we provided it? And is there evidence that such advice would improve clinical outcomes? Claire Picton is consultant in emergency care nursing at the Hillingdon Hospital, Middlesex
Our mission Emergency Nurse encourages innovation and promotes professional excellence in all pre-hospital and emergency care settings. The journal is editorially independent and opinions expressed in it do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Royal College of Nursing or those of contributors’ employing organisations.
Follow us: @ENJournalRCN EMERGENCY NURSE
Claire Picton
This month’s issue of Emergency Nurse features an article on managing minor burns. It addresses the specific question of when to debride blisters and when to leave them intact.
ADMINISTRATION Administration manager Helen Hyland Email: [email protected] Administration assistant Sandra Lynch
Read more at: nursingblog.rcnpublishing.co.uk
Visit us at: Emergency Nurse May 2014 | Volume 22 | Number 2
Downloaded from RCNi.com by ${individualUser.displayName} on Nov 05, 2015. For personal use only. No other uses without permission. Copyright © 2015 RCNi Ltd. All rights reserved.
5
