Burn Patients’ Experiences of Hospitalization: A Content Analysis Study

Burn patients who may be hospitalized for a few days to a few months find themselves in an unfamiliar environment over which they often have no control. Since the successful management of these patients requires a comprehensive understanding of their experiences, this study aimed to explain the burn patients’ experiences of hospitalization using a content analysis approach.
The present study was conducted using a qualitative design with a conventional content analysis approach. The participants were 9 burn patients admitted to the burn unit of Amir al-Momenin Ali Hospital in Zabol in 2019 who were selected through purposive sampling. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analyzed based on the steps proposed by Graham and Landmann. The validity and robustness of the data were checked.
Based on the results of data analysis, 2 main categories and 5 subcategories were extracted: (1) bitter moments of hospitalization (emotional bitterness during hospitalization, bitter dressing moments, and bitter moments of pain perception) and (2) duality of nursing care (lack of nursing care and nurses’ compassionate care).
The analysis of the experiences of the burn patients showed that they experienced bitter moments after their hospitalization, while in addition to compassionate care, sometimes they felt the lack of nursing care. It is hoped that this study, by providing a clear picture of the hospitalization experiences of burn patients, can help officials and managers of burn units to take appropriate measures to address existing nursing care gaps, improve the hospitalization of these patients, and guide the implementation of nursing care strategies at the time of hospitalization of these patients.