Forrest Gump said it best: the Burn Unit “is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re gonna get.” As the only unit in the hospital who takes care of both adults and pediatrics-ICU, step-down, and med-surg- the unit demographics and patient assignments can be challenging at times, but nurse Katie Pulick never misses a beat. She easily adapts to whatever nursing role or patient assignment she has for the day. Whether she has the five border patients on 8 South, the 90% burn 1:1 assignment on 8 West, or has spent her day as the tank nurse, she is personable, respectful, and extremely attentive to her patients needs.
Last week Katie was on 8 South taking care of a young girl recovering from a 60% TBSA burn. Caring for V was emotionally draining… her demanding behavior, the ear piercing shrieks, the tears streaming down her face, and her unmet cries for her mother during her daily dressing changes. Katie set behavioral limits with V, but was attentive nevertheless. When other nurses would have thrown in the towel, fed-up with the antics, Katie would take a deep breath, tell V that she would give her a few minutes to settle down and compose herself. When Katie returned, V would be calm and smiling. Ready to move on with the day. Katie, always calm and collected, recognized the importance of not feeding into the child’s frenzy.
Despite firm limit setting, Katie had a bond with V, and V responded well. They had their daily routine. With endless patience Katie would walk V to the tank , remove her dressings, and then complete daily wound care. As V yelled, “Too rough! Too hot! Too cold! Too much soap! Not enough cream!” Katie never balked. Instead, she empowered V to participate-giving her the washcloth, giving her the cream, letting her use the hose- encouraging her every step of the way. Had Katie done the bath and wound care by herself it would have taken 30 minutes, but instead it took closer to an hour. Many nurses would do the care themselves for the sake of saving time, but not Katie. She sees the big picture and recognizes the long-term goal patient self-sufficiency and accountability. We(the Burn Center) may help patients heal, but they wont’ be inpatients forever and we want them to flourish after discharge.
After Katie’s four day stretch, V spoke fondly of previous week with Katie. She mentioned, on more than one occasion, about how she liked Katie’s way of doing things. And that is the effect that Katie has on all her patients. She touches their lives in many small ways that make add up to make a big difference. The Burn Center is extremely fortunate to have Katie Pulick as member of our staff and patients are extremely fortunate to have her as a care provider.