Learning Objective #1: understand the effects of skin rehabilitation nursing program for burn survivors.

Learning Objective #2: identify the nursing care issues for burn survivors's rehabilitation.

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PURPOSE: Hypertrophic scarring, pigmentation, and depression are the principal problems after burn injury, and lead to low quality of life in burn survivors. This study was done to verify the effects of skin rehabilitation nursing program (SRNP) on skin status, depression and burn specific health in Korean burn survivors.

METHODS: A pretest-posttest design using a nonequivalent control group was applied to examine the effects of SRNP for 3 months in a group of 21 burn survivors. The major dependent variables-including depression, burn specific health, objective and subjective scar status-were measured at the beginning and at the end of the program to examine the effects of SRNP.

RESULTS: Burn survivors receiving SRNP showed improved depression, burn specific health, and reduced burn scar depth but showed no statistically significant differences compared to control group. The remaining scar also showed improvement in vascularity as measured on the Modified Vancouver Scar Scale (MVSS) and showed improvement in erythema as measured using Mexameter.

CONCLUSION: The findings demonstrate that SRNP for burn survivors may improve their vascularity and erythema on burn scar.