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A burn accident creates many changes and losses for you and your loved ones. Being in the hospital can be frightening. Patients often experience frustration and depression during recovery.

Our burn team considers every aspect of healing to treat the whole person. 

If you are a family member or friend of the patient, we encourage you to review these policies and procedures.

Openly communicate with your loved one and staff to help provide support. 


Advanced Care Directives

As part of routine care, we ask you to fill out advanced directives. Advanced directives are detailed instructions on how to care for you or your loved one if they have a cardiac arrest or other life-threatening event.

This is routine practice for all patients and does not mean that something bad has happened or that we expect something bad to happen. 


Our doctors will communicate openly and honestly about you or your loved one’s condition. If complications occur, we may ask you to make decisions about care.

It is important to keep in mind the patient’s wishes and how they would want to be cared for. If you don’t know the patient’s wishes or are unwilling to commit to decisions regarding their care, we will provide the care we believe best serves the patient. 


Emotional Support

You and your loved ones need emotional support even when things go well. If there is a complication or bad outcome, our entire team will support you and your loved ones as much as possible.

We encourage you to ask questions about uncomfortable issues. We will answer all questions open and honestly and explain if a complication has occurred.

We provide support throughout treatment no matter what happens.


Practical Tips for Caregivers

• The best time to ask for help is before you really need it. Don’t wait until you are exhausted. 

• Develop a support system early. 

• Involve others and make them comfortable with the situation, even if the help seems minor. 

• Be aware of the effect of compliments and don’t let them disable you. (For example, it can be hard to live up to expectations when people call you a hero.) 

• Build consensus with the burn team, your family members, and the patient in decisions where possible. 

• Feel free to let others be responsible for finding answers. 

• Know how to ask politely, but directly, for what you need. 


Supporting Personal Health & Resilience

In order to provide care for your loved one, you need to keep yourself healthy. Take care of yourself by doing these things: 


• Get plenty of restful sleep. 

• Find a sense of meaning and purpose in the situation. 

• Seek loving and supportive relationships. 

• Look for positive interactions and social support. 

• Exercise
• Eat healthy food. 

• Find a connection to others experiencing a similar situation. 
 

How Emotions Affect the Body

While you are going through this experience, you may have some physical symptoms. These symptoms are often expressions of the emotions you are feeling. They can include these: 

• Headaches 

• Dizziness 

• Nausea or frequent stomachaches 

• Severe pain in your stomach or abdomen
• Little to no motivation, energy, or drive

• Restlessness or feeling irritable

• Severe depression 

• Problems with sleep, such as insomnia, nightmares, waking up abruptly, and being unable to return to sleep 

• Little to no appetite 

• Little to no sexual desire 

• Forgetfulness or memory loss
• Inability to concentrate 

• Outbursts of anger and/or hostile behavior for no reason

• Uncontrollable crying 

• Chronic pain, often in the joints, back, or head 

• Pains in the chest area (that you may think are symptoms of a heart attack) 

• Muscle weakness in various parts of the body 

• Muscle soreness 

• Hot or cold spells 

• Numbing or tingling, especially in your hands, feet, and face 

• Lump in your throat and occasional difficulty in swallowing 

• Hyperventilating or shortness of breath 


In addition to our regular support group, we can also recommend therapy services to help you deal with this trauma.

[Woolley, F. Ross and Woolley, Susan (2000) “Sudden Trauma! When Life Will Never Be The Same Again,”GoldMind Publications, Salt Lake City, UT (ISBN0-9678150-0-2)]