Nurses' attitudes towards burn patients in the emergency department

Introduction: A burn is a tissue injury caused by heat in any of its forms. It is one of the most invasive and devastating traumas that can affect human beings. In some situations, it can evolve with certain frequency to more serious situations or even cause death. Objective: To identify in the literature the care provided by nurses to burn patients in hospital emergency services. Methodology: This is an integrative literature review. As inclusion criteria, papers published from 2008 to 2018 were selected, and theses, dissertations, reviews and publications that did not address the topic were excluded. Descriptors were used that, applied to online databases, such as Scientific and Technical Literature of Latin America and the Caribbean (LILACS), the Online System for Search and Analysis of Medical Literature (MEDLINE) and the electronic libraries Scientific Eletronic Library Online (SCIELO) and Virtual Health (BVS), 125 articles were obtained, of which only 12 remained in the final sample. Results: The nursing care provided during the emergency phase has the control of vital signs; elevation of the burned extremities in order to reduce edema; insertion of large-caliber venous catheters; bladder probing; monitoring of fluid balance with annotation of urine output every hour; evaluation of body temperature, body weight, pre-burn weight and history of allergies, immunization against tetanus, previous clinical and surgical problems, current illnesses and use of medications; performing a complete physical examination; nasogastric probing; hygiene of burn patients; preparation of a complete patient history, describing the burn mechanism, how it occurred, time. Conclusion: The care provided by nurses in the care of burn patients in the hospital emergency service is effective in relieving pain and restoring the health of these patients.