Preparing Nurses to Connect and Heal: Young Adult Burn Survivors Experiences With Social Media

Purpose: The developmental need for socialization is paramount for adolescents. However, when faced with a traumatic event such as a severe burn, the ability to connect face to face can be compromised due to physical, psychological, and social factors. Social media is widely used by young adults as a means of communication and socialization. The purpose of this study was to illuminate the meaning of social media by young adult burn survivors who had  burned as adolescents or earlier.

Methods: The phenomenological methodology of this study provided the framework to understand and describe the meaning of social media by young adult burn survivors without any preconceived variables.  Five females and four males, aged 20-25, who sustained major burns > 25%, were interviewed.  

Results: Data analysis identified the five essential themes of identity, connectivity, social support, making meaning, and privacy.  These young adult burn survivors, having experienced the traumatic effects of a burn during adolescence, use social media as a way of expressing their identity. Connectivity and social support were expressed in terms of family, friends and other burn survivors. Globally connecting with others enabled a flow of social support and information that was motivating and encouraging. Social media facilitated an accessible exchange of information that helped young adult burn survivors make meaning out of the traumatic event that contributed to the healing process.   

Conclusions: Nurses care for those who are burned during the critical, convalescent, and discharge phases of healing. The findings of this study suggest ways in which nurses can participate in helping burn survivors use social media to promote and restore health while hospitalized and after discharge.  Curriculum development, informed by the knowledge gained from this study, can provide nurses and students with the tools necessary to develop patient centered interventions that will prepare and support young adult burn survivors for reentry into society with the aid of social media.