Burn Survivor Support

Family-centered/burn survivor support is available on a continuum from admission to years after discharge from the Burn Center. For more information you can call the Burn Center at 913-588-6540.

Family Support Group

Meets every Tuesday (except 2nd Tuesday of the month) at 6:00 p.m. in the Patient/Visitors Lounge of the Burn Center.

Family-centered support is provided individually and also in a group setting. Once a week a Family Support Group is conducted in the Burn Center Patient/Family Lounge for families and friends of current burn patients. According to the needs of the group, the participants are educated on elements of burn care: wound care, skin grafting, nutrition, rehabilitation, community resources, etc. Also, the emotional needs of both the patient and the family members are discussed and family members are also encouraged to ask questions and to ventilate their feelings as they wish. The Burn Nurse Clinician is usually the group leader; occasionally, the Physical or Occupational Therapist will conduct the group and will focus on rehabilitation issues while the patients are in the hospital and what families can expect once they return home. Also occasionally participating in this Group are burn survivors and/or their families. This allows families to ask questions of those who have been in like situations and greatly facilitates the education process and often allays anxiety.

Burn Survivor Support Group

Meets monthly on the 2nd Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. in the Patient/Visitors Lounge of the Burn Center

The Burn Survivor Support Group meets the educational and emotional needs of patients after discharge. There are planned speakers throughout the year to address a variety of issues to include; psychosocial, rehabilitation, after discharge wound care, return to work and workers compensation, burn camp, and make-up for burn scars. Inpatients and their families are invited to attend this group also. This support group meets once a month. The Clinical Nurse Specialist and the Rehabilitation Therapist facilitate this group.

Individual Support

Individual support is available to families according to their needs:

1. children of burn family members are offered support by educational interventions that are appropriate for their age
2. if meeting with a burn survivor is not possible during Group sessions, the burn staff can set up individual meetings if it is assessed that such intervention would be beneficial
3. school re-entry program is available for burned children returning to school to ease the transition
4. parents of burned children are informed of burn camps that provide emotional support in a camp style atmosphere