Intervention for Body Image Concerns Following Burn Injury: the Nurses Perspective - Assignment Example

Name: Tutor: Title: Intervention for body image concerns following burn injury: The nurse’s perspective Course: Date: Intervention for body image concerns following burn injury: The nurse’s perspective Part A Task 1: Key Themes Article 1 Major burn injury causes substantial damage to skin and the ensuing body image dissatisfaction and functional impairment can cause depression. Reconstructive surgery on burn patients improves function, comfort, as well as appearance. Article 2 Burn injuries affect physical attractiveness of an individual Burn survivors generally have depression due to affected body image which results to social difficulties Article 3 Burn injuries survivors have difficulties in adapting to disfigurement and scarring that results after burn injuries Burn survivors have problems with social functioning, for example difficulties in coping with behavior of other people as well as own behavior in social situations. Article 4 Burn survivors suffer emotional, psychological and social pain due to disfigurement and scarring. Society views burn survivors who are scarred and disfigured as different and makes it painful for the survivors. Article 5 Burn survivors have difficulties in reconciling/rediscovering self because they have difficulties in accepting their “new-self”. Burn survivors reach a turning point where they search for meaning. They begin normal interactions with the society and everything else and emotionally accept their situation. Recording Question 1: YES Question 2: YES Question 3: YES Question 4: YES Question 5: NO Question 6: YES Question 7: YES Question 8: YES Question 9: YES Task 2: Link key themes between authors and develop 4 key concepts 1. Burn injuries affect the body image of the survivors 2. Burn injuries affect socialization of the victims 3. Burn survivors seek reconstructive surgeries to restore appearances 4. Acceptance is the key to coping Task 3 Introduction Severe burn injuries scar and disfigure the casualties and this may end up affecting their body image negatively. This is because the disfiguring affects their physical appearances. When one’s physical appearance is damaged, one may be affected emotionally because of the challenges that come with it. The society also views them as different people and this adds up to their challenges of dealing with the trauma of disfigured physical appearances. The emotional impact of burn injuries on the survivors may cause depression. Burn injury survivors desire to recover their former physical appearances and this is the reason they may seek reconstructive surgeries to correct the disfigurement that results from the burn injuries (Thombs et al, 2007). Studies have shown that burn injuries affect the body image of the survivors. Severe burn injuries scar and disfigure the victims and this completely changes their former-self. The survivors are affected emotionally and social wise because the burn injuries affect their physical looks. Severe burn injuries have substantial damage on the skin, disfiguring and scarring the individual and this is what alters the body image (Thombs et al, 2008). When the body image is altered and the victims are not satisfied with how they look, they can end up being depressed. Dissatisfaction with the body image refers to an individual’s insight regarding his or her physical appearance. Basically, when a person suffers burn injuries, the physical appearance change which may in obviously affects the victims negatively (Henry, 2011). For instance, a burn injury may result to a disfigured face or an individual’s limbs being amputated and thus completely changing his/her physical appearance. The change in physical appearance may in the long run have psychological impacts on the survivors, where survivors may feel frustrated regarding how they look. For example, one may look in the mirror and get sad and frustrated that he/she no longer looks the same. They may yearn and want to look the way they looked before the burn injury and this is what results to frustrations. As a result, these frustrations make the victims to have a negative image regarding their body image and also eventually lead to depression. The depressed burn survivors become withdrawn, they feel different from others, which further aggravates their misery (Henry, 2011). Since the burn injuries affect a person’s self-esteem and thus impact his/her socialization. It is therefore common to find the people suffering from burn injuries withdrawing from the society. There are many instances where patients discharged from hospitals having suffered burn injuries lock themselves in the house and no longer interact with their peers as they did before. This is because they perceive themselves as “ugly” and may also fear to mingle with other people because they might be thinking that they will be taunted. More importantly, there have been cases of the society making the survivors of burn injuries feel that they are different. It is common to see people staring at an individual who has burn injuries (Lau, & Niekerk, 2011). Such staring makes burn survivors feel odd and like they are different and this adds to their misery. It makes them feel different from others and thus they end up isolating themselves from the society and the people they once socialized with normally (Corry et al, 2009). Additionally, there are cases of victims of burn injuries being taunted by others especially children. Normally, children sometimes taunt their peers without knowing the psychological impacts such taunting may be having on their peers. Sometimes the children may refuse to play with their peers who have burn injuries because they perceive them as different and at times perceive them as not being their equals. Such incidences of the non-burned individuals staring at the burn survivors or children discriminating them frustrates them further and increases their chances of becoming depressed. Additionally, when burn survivors interact with people who have not suffered burns like them; it may awaken their emotional vulnerabilities where they remember the past when they used to be “normal” like everybody else. This might make them withdraw from socializing and therefore not only affects them psychologically but also social wise (Lau & Niekerk, 2011). Burn survivors seek reconstructive surgeries in order to restore or improve their physical looks, improve function and also for comfort and psychological satisfaction. Basically, burn survivors wish to be the same as they were before they were scarred or disfigured by the burn injuries and this is what drives them to seek reconstructive surgeries. Normally, major burn injuries impair function and thus result to loss of function of some body parts as well as damaging cosmetically important body parts such as the face (Corry et al, 2009). Evidently, to repair the impaired functionality and reconstruct the damaged body parts, burn survivors seek reconstructive surgeries. Reconstructive surgeries can either restore the functionality of a body organ or improve their physical appearance that had been damaged by the burns. The reconstructive surgeries have been successful in many occasions where the physical appearance of once disfigured individuals has greatly improved (Thombs et al, 2008). Evidently, patients who have their physical appearance restored or greatly improved are able to socialize better with other people and their depression levels greatly drop. Females have a higher likelihood of seeking reconstructive surgeries as compared to men because females are more sensitive to their physical appearance. Evidence also shows that people who have high levels of depression due to the burn injuries have a higher likelihood of seeking reconstructive surgeries. This means that one factor that makes burn injuries survivors to seek reconstructive surgeries is distress and this affects both the pre-surgical decision making and post-surgery result. Accordingly, the reduction in depression for patients with burn injuries is directly proportional to the success of the reconstructive surgery (Thombs et al, 2007). Physical appearance is an important aspect to everybody. Normally, most people are concerned about their looks and a person’s appearance affects one’s body image satisfaction. If a person view is that his/her physical appearance is okay, such a person has is likely to have a positive body image and vice-versa. Clearly, burn injuries change the physical appearance of an individual and most definitely impact their physical appearance negatively. This is why the society may view burn injury survivors as unattractive because of the change in their physical appearance. It is common to see people who are physically attractive being favored and being given special attention as compared to individuals perceived to less attractive. The society places so much importance on physical appearance such that individuals who perceive themselves as less attractive are likely to have negative feelings regarding themselves and mostly because of the way the society treats them (Lau & Niekerk, 2011). A society that perceives people who are physically attractive as superior to people whose physical appearance is not high is likely to discriminate against people whose physical appearance has been damaged and this includes burn injury survivors. To overcome such discriminations burn injury survivors need to accept their situation and rediscover themselves and show the society that they are normal people like everybody else and can achieve great things just like their non-burned peers. Since even the reconstructive surgeries rarely restore a person’s appearance wholly, studies have shown that survivors who embarked on emotionally healing are likely to integrate better into the society. Even though the disfigured appearance of the burn victims limits their interaction with other people, studies have shown that if the victims accept their situation, their disfigured appearances are not likely to discourage their social interactions (Lau & Niekerk, 2011). Conclusion In conclusion, burn injuries affect the survivors in a great way. Not only does it affect their physical appearances, it also affects their emotions. The negative emotional impacts are due to the challenges that come with the changed appearance. As mentioned, burn injuries cause scarring and disfiguring, affecting one’s physical appearance negatively and thus affects one’s body image. The negative body image and the need of a burn injury casualty to recover the former looks may cause anguish and thus leading to depression if it is not attainable. To regain the former looks, burn injury survivors seek reconstruction surgeries and if successful their distress can reduce greatly. Part B Task 1 Lau, U, & Niekerk, A, 2011 Question 1: YES Question 2: YES Question 3: YES Question 4: YES Question 5: YES Question 6: NO Question 7: NO Question 8: YES Question 9: NO Task 2 Thombs, B, et al, 2007 Aspects Focus The article’s topic majors on depression on burn injuries survivors. Measurable variables are body image dissatisfaction and physical function. The topic is important for research. Rationale The topic provides a framework to find out how burn injuries cause depression on the survivors and the factors that increase or lessen the depression (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Background The study problem is serious and has been reinforced by previous studies. The problem has been tackled in previous studies and researchers have reviewed literature to indicate the problem. The researchers have supported their arguments with statistics. Rationale The study background indicates the study problem and the significance of carrying out a study (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Aim The aim of the study is to investigate the predominance of depression and the clinical correlation of depression symptoms among burn reconstruction patients. Rationale Depression is common in burn patients seeking reconstruction surgeries (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Methodology The methodology is a survey and the methodology is suitable for the study’s objective. Rationale The methodology is suitable because it allows enough data to be gathered and analyzed (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Tool of Data Collection Data was collected using series of standardized measure. The method has been used in previous studies and is reliable and accurate as well. There is mention of reliability but rationale for selecting the data collection method was not given. Rationale The tool of data collection is reliable because the standardized measures used have been utilized in previous studies and their reliability in similar studies confirmed (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Method of data analysis and presentation Statistical analysis used to analyze the data included Path analysis, chi square and such. The results are clearly presented in results section. A table was used to present the results and was clearly explained. Rationale The data analysis method used is reliable and allows adequate correlation of data to be carried out and data presentation is comprehensive (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Sample The sample size includes 224 burn reconstruction patients. Inclusion and exclusion criteria is stated where only 63% of the initial sample completed the psychological assessment, 32% were not evaluated because of psychologist unavailability and 5% either refused or there was language barrier. Rationale The sample size provided adequate sample for the study and the inclusion and exclusion criteria ensured reliability and that there was no bias (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Ethical considerations The study was approved by the Johns Hopkins Institutional Review Board. Informed consent was not sought from the study participants nor was confidentiality assured. Rationale It is important to seek study approval from the appropriate study authorizing agency as well as ensure informed consent is sought from the study participants to make sure they are aware of everything regarding the study and they are not coerced in any way (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Main findings The key study findings were that burn injuries cause body image dissatisfaction and physical impairment which in turn result to depression. The study findings relate to the aim of the study. Rationale The major findings confirm the aim of the study and the study hypothesis (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Conclusion and recommendations There is a clear answer to the aim of the study was given and the study hypothesis was supported and the only recommendation made is to have some issues addressed in future research. Rationale Conclusion indicates if the study was successful and the study objectives were met (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Overall strengths and limitations The study achieved its objectives although there were several limitations on the study which were acknowledged. Rationale The study was generally successful and this allows applicability of the study results (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Application to practice The study results can be applied in practice because they are supported by other similar studies although as the article authors indicated, several issues should be addressed in future. Rationale Applicability of the study results depends on the success and substantiation of the study and in this study the results are supported by similar studies and thus applicable in practice (Holland, & Rees, 2010). Bibliography Corry, N, et al, 2009, Quality of life and psychosocial adjustment to burn injury: Social functioning, body image, and health policy perspectives, International Review of Psychiatry, 21(6): 539–548. Henry, S, 2011, Disfigurement and visible difference: The impact upon personal and personality development and the implications for therapy, Person-Centered & Experiential Psychotherapies, 10, (4), 274–285. Holland, K, & Rees, C, 2010, Nursing: Evidence-Based Practice Skills, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Lau, U, & Niekerk, A, 2011, Restoring the Self: An Exploration of Young Burn Survivors’ Narratives of Resilience, Qualitative Health Research, 21(9) 1165–1181. Thombs, B, et al, 2007, Depression in burn reconstruction patients: symptom prevalence and association with body image dissatisfaction and physical function, General Hospital Psychiatry, 29, pages 14-20. Thombs, B, et al, 2008, From survival to socialization: A longitudinal study of body image in survivors of severe burn injury, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, (64) 205–212. Read More