Paediatric Burns and its Related Infections : a Qualitative Study Emphasizing the Preventive Work Conducted by Nurses in Dar es Salaam

Sammanfattning: Introduction: Burn injuries are a major health problem and a leading problem of childhood mortality, particularly in developing countries. The most common complication of burn injuries is infections in the wound. Purpose: The purpose of the study was to investigate what advice is given to parents concerning precautions to avoid burns and related infections. Furthermore, the purpose is to investigate what nurses do to prevent infections in the wounds that might appear after burns at the ward. Method: A qualitative, explorative study was conducted. Semi- structured interviews were conducted among seven nurses, working at the burn unit in Dar es Salaam. A qualitative content analysis was used for data analysis. Result: Four categories of advice which nurses gave to parents were emerged from the data - Importance of family as well as community resources, Aseptic technique and regulation at the ward to prevent infections, Thoughtful counselling and Looking into a bright future - burns can be prevented. The advices given to parents from nurses are to pay attention to their child and to not leave the child alone. To prevent infections nurses work aseptic at the ward, and they give education to mothers and children about hygiene and nutrition. Conclusion: Nurses put a lot of effort in counselling in order to prevent future burns and their related complications. The limited economic resources of the families, is one of the main reasons to cause burns and at the same time affecting the care negatively. The nurses working at the burn unit emphasized the importance of education