Evaluation of negative emotional care experiences in burn care.
OBJECTIVE
To assess recollection of negative emotional experiences during burn care.


BACKGROUND
Patients in intensive care frequently report negative emotional experiences. Patients with severe burns who are treated in intensive care units undergo painful care procedures, but there have been no recent evaluations of their care experiences.


METHODS
Former burn patients (n = 42) were randomly assigned to three groups: postal questionnaire, telephone interview and face-to-face interview.


METHODS
Assessments included negative care experiences (feelings of uncertainty, powerlessness, being afraid, insecure, being a nuisance, or neglected), severity of injury, patient satisfaction, personality traits and psychological symptoms.


RESULTS
Overall, the degree of recalled negative experiences was low and associated with greater severity of injury, more symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder and lower satisfaction with care. The feeling of powerlessness was the most common, as 67% of participants had such feelings to some extent.


CONCLUSIONS
Overall, negative care experiences were uncommon and most prevalent among the severely injured. Such experiences were also associated with psychological symptoms and lower patient satisfaction.


CONCLUSIONS
Although relatively uncommon, negative emotional care experiences should be monitored more closely during care.
Wikehult
Björn
B
Department of Surgical Sciences, Plastic Surgery, The Burn Unit, Uppsala University Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden. bjorn.wikehult@akademiska.se
Hedlund
Mathilde
M
Marsenic
Milica
M
Nyman
Sofi
S
Willebrand
Mimmie
M
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002053:Burn Units / Q000458:organization & administration; D002056:Burns / Q000150:complications / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009341:Negativism; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D011787:Quality of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden; D035501:Uncertainty