News and Highlights

July 2006

The Burnett Burn Center is offering two Advanced Burn Life Support Provider Courses. The dates are August 3 and August 23, 2006. Course times are 7:30am – 4:30pm. The participation fee is funded by a grant through the Continuing Education Department of KUJMC. For details, please contact Christina Roth at 913-588-4493, or by email at croth@kumc.edu.

March 2005

Five Advanced Burn Life Support (ABLS) Courses were held on the KUMC campus (April through August).

August 2004

Cherie Rourke, RN has submitted an abstract that has been accepted by the Southern Medical Association for their 17th Annual Regional Burn Conference.
The topic "Unit-Based Practice Council" focuses on the impact of a specialized team of nurses whose objective is to increase standardization of patient care through process improvement. The conference will take place November 5-7, 2004 in Birmingham, Alabama.

PHOTO: Burn ICU Practice Council works to standardize patient care. Cherie Rourke is on the far left.

April 2004

Rosie Thompson, RN, clinical nurse specialist at The University of Kansas Hospital’s Burnett Burn Center, was recently presented the prestigious Curtis P. Artz Distinguished Service Award at the 36th annual American Burn Association meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia. The annual award is presented to non-physicians for outstanding contributions to the burn field. The award includes a $2,000 honorarium, an engraved medal and paid annual meeting expenses. Thompson, a 1981 graduate of Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, has been with the Burn Center since 1982. She spends much of her time educating burn staff, community groups, health professionals and firefighters about burn treatment and prevention. (Reprinted from In the Center, April 8, 2004.)

February 2004

When the nursing services section of the U.S. Army Reserve’s 325th Field Hospital wanted an expert to speak on severe burn injuries and treatment procedures, it came to the hospital recognized as the best in the region – The University of Kansas Hospital.

To help prepare troops and nursing personnel who were recently deployed overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, Rosie Thompson, RN, MSN, clinical nurse specialist, Burn Center, spoke to a large group of registered nurses, LPNs, aides and paramedics. Her presentation was made at Army Reserve headquarters in Independence, Mo.

Thompson was chosen by Lt. Col. Carol Kappelman, a KU School of Nursing graduate, practicing nurse and
Army reservist, who is currently working on her graduate degree at the SoN.

"I asked around, and Rosie's name came up every time because of her experience and the expertise of the Burn Center," Kappelman said.

The Burnett Burn Center at The University of Kansas Hospital is the only facility in the region certified by both the American Burn Association and the American College of Surgeons.

During her lecture, Thompson reviewed burn management principles, including immediate burn assessment, fluid resuscitation, wound care, airway and inhalation injuries and intubation procedures.

"Intubation of burn victims should be done by your most experienced person," Thompson advised. "Because of swelling in the airway, you often don't get a second chance."

Thompson discussed the importance of protecting the patient from infection and further injury, preventing loss of body fluids and regulating body temperature. She also explained treatment options for various types of burn injuries, such as chemical and electrical burns, and special procedures used in caring for pediatric burns.

Thompson is a much soughtafter speaker. She makes about 18 presentations a year to groups such as hospital emergency departments, paramedic and pre-emergency services and schools of nursing.

"As a nationally certified Burn Center, we are involved with burn care education in the community," Thompson said. This was her first presentation to a military unit, and she found it to be a humbling experience.

"Seeing all those men and women, fellow nurses, in their uniforms preparing very soon to leave the U.S. to serve oversees was quite overwhelming," she said. "There was such positive energy in the air and such a sense of purpose and dedication. I am very proud the hospital supports this type of program so that we are able to help those who serve." (Reprinted from In The Center, February 12, 2004)

September 2003

Dr. David Robinson, MD, who served as vice chancellor for clinical affairs and chief of staff from 1974 to 1979 died September 16, 2003 at the University of Kansas Hospital. He was 88. Dr. Robinson, one of the founding physicians of the Burn Center, was appointed director of the Gene and Barbara Burnett Burn Center in 1973.

November 2003

The president of the American Burn Association, Lynn Solem, MD, spoke Nov. 12 on “Treatment of the Massively Burned Patient” in Clendening Auditorium.

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