Bllfil LUPSGS-SpCGiallStS llo ProvidG Constant Cars When a severely burned patient calls out in anguish, a highly trained nurse will be there to answer the call. CONSTANT CARE for victims vic-tims of what doctors call one of the most devastating injuries in-juries requires a person who can work well under stressful conditions. Such a person is Judy Workman. She is head nurse of the Intermountain Burn Center at the U of U Hospital. ALTHOUGH THE unit currently has only three beds, a team of health professionals is necessary to provide 24-hour 24-hour intensive care. Ms. Workman oversees a staff that averages one member for each patient on an around-the-clock basis. These nurses are only one element of a team approach to caring for burn victims. Other participants in this "total concept" treatment group include a burn technician, tech-nician, physical and occupa tional therapists, medical social worker, dietitian and a psychiatric nurse. LIKE MOST other team members, the burn nurses gained their expertise through practical experiencev In Ms. Workman's case, she began caring for burn victims in the hospital's intensive care unit after graduating from the U's college of nursing. nurs-ing. A burn nurse's responsibilities respon-sibilities are varied, she said. They carry out medical instructions in-structions from physicians, and assess patients' daily needs. "BECAUSE WE'RE constantly con-stantly with patients, we can tell what changes are taking place, make quick decisions in emergency cases and monitor the effects of treatment," treat-ment," Ms. Workman said. These nurses are also responsible re-sponsible for maintaining the unit's isolation procedure, a necessary step to protect the patient from pathogenic organisms. or-ganisms. ESSENTIAL TO each patient's pa-tient's recovery is a twice-daily twice-daily routine that includes debridement of eschar (removal of dead tissue), hydrotherapy involves patients pa-tients being placed in whirlpool whirl-pool baths for two 20-minute sessions daily. The water's action helps remove loose tissue tis-sue and infection products, a process that is necessary before skin grafts can be done. IN PHYSICAL therapy, the nurses assist therapists who conduct range of motion exercises with patients. This procedure involves having the patient do everything from eye blinking to walking. "This is vital to prevent the patients from having contractures, con-tractures, or a shortening of muscle and tissue, which will cause deformity." BECAUSE PATIENTS are frequently in pain, the routine can be agonizing, and the nurses who witness the agony suffer, too. But Ms. Workman thinks the stress on nurses is worth the results. "IT'S REWARDING to finally ses a patient go home who came in with burns over 90 percent of his body."