A nurse is caring for a patient who is admitted to the burn unit with burns over

Question

A nurse is caring for a patient who is admitted to the burn unit with burns over two thirds of his body. On the initial exam, the nurse notes that the patient's burns are over his chest, abdomen, and extremities. The patient is noted to have a fever on the third day of hospital admission. Describe the functions of the skin? How will the patient's burns affect the skin's functions? On the initial assessment, the nurse notes large bullae over the chest and abdomen with crusting and weeping. How would you describe a bullae? Why would the patient have crusting and weeping? The patients burns were full-thickness and involved both the epidermis and dermis. What are the functions of both of these layers? (Learning Objectives 1, 3, 5)

Explanation / Answer

1. ANS: The skin plays a vital role for keeping the physiological and biochemical conditions of the body in its optimum state.

Important functions of the skin are: It Regulates the body temperature, prevents loss of essential body fluids, protection of the body from harmful effects of the sun and radiation, excretes toxic substances with sweat, Vitamin D synthesis and gives mechanical support.

Burns affect on the skin:

A mild burn usually won't affect the body beyond the original wound, but serious burns can cause additional problems in the body, including dehydration, shock, and chemical imbalances. Severe burns can also destroy muscle tissue and damage the kidneys. Infections can also be a serious complication because the body's defense-its skin-is damaged.

2. ANS: A bulla is a fluid-filled sac or lesion that appears when fluid is trapped under a thin layer of your skin. It’s a type of blister. the blister must be larger than 0.5 centimeters (5 millimeters) in diameter.

The patient has crust and weeping because a crust or a scab is created when dried blood forms over a scratched and irritated skin lesion and the weeping rashes is a the result of the reaction taken placed between body's immune cells and some chemical in the environment.

3. ANS: Epidermis: The epidermis is the outer most layer of skin that acts as a barrier preventing toxic chemical and other materials from penetrating deeper into the skin. It prevents water loss and the entry of chemicals and microorganisms, protects against abrasion and gives rise to hair, nails, and glands

Dermis: The dermis is the layer of skin that lies beneath the epidermis and above the subcutaneous layer. It is the thickest layer of the skin, and is made up of fibrous and elastic tissue. Thus it provides strength and flexibility to the skin.

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