Burn Injuries Affecting Infants as One of the Critical Issues That Affects Negatively the Health and Well-Being of the Infants and Their Families - Coursework Example

Report on Burn Injuries among the Infants Name: Institution: Table of Contents Purpose The purpose of this essay is to assess the problem of burns among the infants and assist in providing knowledge and opinions both to the families involved in provision of care to the infants and those in the nursing profession and other healthcare related professions. Additionally, the essay seeks to address the concerns raised regarding the burns among the infants and advocate for the adoption of measures that will promote the health and well-being of the infants in Australia and worldwide. Additionally, the essay seeks to come up with recommendations that can be adopted to prevent incidences of burns among the infants globally. Introduction Burn injury experienced by the infants is one of the leading causes of hospitalizations and emergency department visits in Australia. Most of these burns cases occur within the home environment. Burn injuries among the infants are associated psychological and physical long term consequences alongside prolonged medical and nursing management. Thus, burns among the infants can be prevented since most of them occur within home environment. The mechanisms involved in causing the burns injuries among the infants vary. These include burns from hot liquids such as hot water (bathing), burns from coffee and tea pots, hot iron equipment and fires among other mechanisms. Nature of the burns depends on various factors including its severity, depth and surface area affected. Additionally, factors such as temperature of the hot liquid/substance, length of time in which the body is in contact with the hot substance and duration in which cool water is applied on the surface determines the severity of the burns. Successful management of burns at the hospital set up requires multi-professional approach involving occupational therapists, social workers, psychologists, dieticians working together with the nurses and the doctors. Therefore, efforts should be directed towards optimizing post burn injury outcomes. This includes taking into consideration combination of factors such behavioral, physical and social skills to enable the child develop independent skills that promote independence and sustainability at later stages of life. Definitions First degree burns-this refers to burns caused by sunburns. This type of burns is characterized by absence of blisters, pain, and erythema (W.H.O, 2012). Second degree burns- this type of burns is caused by contact of the infant’s body surface with hot liquids. The burns is characterized by flash burns and mottled or redness of the affected area. Additionally, there is partial involvement of the skin tissues (W.H.O, 2012). Third degree burns- this type of burns is caused by different factors including electricity, fire, and prolonged exposure of the infant’s body with hot objects or liquids. There is full thickness of burns in the affected areas (Government, 2013). Infants- infant refers to a child under the age of two years (W.H.O, 2012). Background It is estimated that infants burns in Australia affects 1% of the total burns in the population annually. Approximately 10% of these cases require hospitalization of which 10% of the hospitalized cases have life threatening injuries (W.H.O, 2012). Injuries resulting from burns and scald injuries are high in children aged less than four years than any other age group. Additionally, 84% of the burn injuries occur between the ages of 7-12 months. Approximately 24% of the burns among the infants are for full thickness (Government, 2013). The incidence of deaths resulting from infant burns is three times more in Africa than any other continent in the world. Infant boys in the low and the middle income earning countries are at high risk of dying from burns as compared to those from the developed countries (Sarabahi & Bajaj, 2009).  Burns contribute to overall morbidity characterized by scalds and disability. Most of the burns occur at the home environments. This means that these burns can be prevented by adopting the most effective strategies which involve both the infants’ caregivers and the healthcare providers (Duke et al.2008). However, the rate of infants’ hospital admissions in Aboriginal communities in Australia is thrice that of the non-aboriginal communities. Aboriginal infants are highly affected by flame injuries as non-aboriginal infants who are affected by contact burns and present with scald (ARACY, 2013). Among the infants admitted to hospitals in Australia, 63% of the admissions are as a result of scalds caused by hot drinks, cooking oils, and hot foods (Government, 2013). These statistics calls for the need of evaluating the risk factors, effects of the burns to the infants and their families and coming up with recommendations that should be adopted to prevent incidences of burns among the infants. Discussion World Health Organization, 2012 identifies that gender plays a great role in determining the risks of infants being affected by burns. Girls are easily involved in getting burns injuries as compared to the boys. Poverty increases the risks of burns incidence among the infants. Therefore, cases of burns among the developed countries are low as those of the under-developed countries. Poor storage of the flammable substances increases the chances of fire outbreak which contribute to burn injuries among the infants (Government, 2013). Duke et al.2008 states that socioeconomic factors contribute to the high incidences of infant burns and related injuries. These include factors such as high levels of illiteracy within the family, living in overcrowded environments and lack of proper supervision of the infants at the home environment. According to the WHO 2012, burn injuries among the infants have great negative impact on the country’s economy. For instance, United States of America uses approximately US$211 Million to manage burns cases. Burn injuries to the infants contribute to great loss of lives. After recovery from the injuries, the infants may develop disabilities that will hinder their normal functioning and their involvement in the activities of the daily living. Burn injuries results to prolonged hospital stay. This increases the expenditure incurred in providing quality care and managing injuries caused by the burns (Simons & Kimble, 2012). Infants affected by burn injuries are at risk of nutritional deficiencies and fluid volume deficits. This occurs due to altered fluid balance and altered feeding mechanisms. Consequently, this leads to compromised immune systems predisposing the infant to other opportunistic infections (Peck, 2012). The family members experience periods of psychological trauma in events of burns to their infants. The family is faced with stress associated with infant management and the unknown outcomes from the management adopted (Sheridan, 2011). Infants may go through periods of stigmatization and social exclusion at their later stages of their lives. This occurs due to the visible scarring caused by the burns which alter their physical appearance. Infants affected by injuries secondary to burns are at a risk of living in poverty as they are at a risk of coming from families with low socio-economic status (Herndon, 2012). Therefore, nurses and other healthcare providers should enhance families and infants later live psychological healing by adopting the best interventions that minimizes trauma (Carvajal & Parks, 1998).  Recommendations for the nursing practice Prevention of injuries caused by burns among the infant population is one of the key strategies which should be embraced to reduce its incidences in Australia (Jeschke, 2012).  The process requires a multi-sectorial approach to ensure that the chosen recommendations are effectively adopted and enhance sustainability (Herndon, 2012). Nurses should embrace creation of awareness among various communities on issues related to prevention of infants’ burns and related injuries. This involve coming up with awareness campaigns aimed at enhancing safety at the home environments to reduce incidences of burns (Sarabahi & Bajaj, 2009). Additionally, nurses should educate the public on the general principles that can be adopted to prevent burn injuries to the infants. These include educating them on measures such as addressing issues of electrical problems, and equipping them with essential first aid knowledge and skills Brunner & Smeltzer, 2010).  Nurses should come up with and enforce policies aimed at reducing incidences of burn injuries among the infants. This includes adopting hospital policy where the infants’ carers are thought on the various ways of preventing future occurrences of burns (Finkelhor, 2008). Additionally, the nurses should take the responsibility of educating the public on the policies adopted to prevent burns at the homes and at the workplaces. The community should be taught by the nurses on various ways of identifying potential factors that might contribute to occurrence of fire break out and other burns causing agents. This enhances their knowledge and early identification of the risk factors to prevent and minimize incidences of burns in the community (Fishman et al. 2010). Nurses should engage in conducting further research on issues related to the burns, management and prevention. This leads to the adoption of the most effective interventions that promote recovery and prevention of burns at the home set up (Sarabahi & Bajaj, 2009). Other measures which should be adopted by the nurses include strengthening the nature of burn care at the healthcare sectors, supporting burns prevention programs and coming up with capacities aimed at strengthening the above suggested recommendations (Landau, 2011).  Furthermore, nurses should work in conjunction with other stakeholders to promote the well-being of the infants. An example of such stakeholders is the Australian Research Alliance for Children and the Youth (ARACY). Through this, the nurses will be able to receive updates on issues related to infants care. Additionally, they are able to receive recent reports on the current issues affecting the infants in the current society. The nurses will appreciate the value of infants’ safety, love, health and well-being, learning needs and the needs fir parental participation in the provision of care. Furthermore, nurses are able to identify data gaps when conducting their researches in collaboration with this organization. The nurses will embrace the value of using other Medias such as the social media to communicate to the general public on values and attitudes aimed at preventing burns to the infants in the society (ARACY, 2013). Some of the pictures on ways in which infants become victims of burn (Phillips, 2010) Conclusion From the above analysis, it is evidently clear that burn injuries affecting the infants are one of the critical issues that affects negatively the health and well-being of the infants and their families. Additionally, the causes of burns can be prevented. Therefore, communities, families and the healthcare providers should partner to ensure that massive awareness programs are established to ensure that cases of burns to the infants are prevented. References ARACY Report Card (2013). The Wellbeing of Young Australians. Sydney: ARACY Pub. Retrieved from: http://www.aracy.org.au/documents/item/126. Accessed on 7th Sept. 2013. Brunner, L. S., & Smeltzer, S. C. O. C. (2010). Brunner & Suddarth's textbook of medical- surgical nursing. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Health/Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. Duke J, Semmens J, Wood F, Edgar D. W, Hendrie D. & Rea S. (2008). A Study of the Burn Hospitalizations for all Children Younger than age of 5 Years. Retrieved from: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2011/03/07/peds.2010-3136.full.pdf. Accessed on, 7th Sept. 2013. Finkelhor, D. (2008). Childhood victimization: Violence, crime, and abuse in the lives of young people. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Fishman, S., Ballantyne, J., Rathmell, J. P., & Bonica, J. J. (2010). Bonica's management of pain. Baltimore, MD: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. Government Consumer Safety Research (2013). Burns and Scalds Accidents in the Home. Retrieved from: http://www.humanics-es.com/burns.pdf. Accessed on, 7th Sept. 2013. Herndon, D. N. (2012). Total burn care. S.l.: Saunders. Jeschke, M. G. (2012). Handbook of burns: Volume 1. Wien: Springer. Landau, E. (2011). Burns. New York: Marshall Cavendish Benchmark. Peck M. D. (2012). Epidemiology of Burns Injuries Globally. New York: Sage. Retrieved from: http://www.uptodate.com/contents/epidemiology-of-burn-injuries-globally. accessed on, 7th Sept. 2013. Phillips, B. (2010). Pediatric burns. Amherst, NY: Cambria Press. Sarabahi, S., & Bajaj, S. P. (2009). Step by step management of burns. New Delhi, India: Jaypee Brothers. Sheridan, R. L. (2011). Burns: A Practical Approach to Immediate Treatment and Long Term Care. London: Manson Pub. Simons M. A. & Kimble R. M. (2012). Pediatric Burns. Melbourne: Willeys and Sons. Retrieved from: http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/en/article/119/. Accessed on 7th Sept. 2013. World Health Organization. (2012). Burns: Factsheet. Retrieved from: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs365/en/. Accessed on 7th Sept. 2013. Read More