Nursing times
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The pain caused by burns can be unpredictable and its management is complex. In order to minimise the discomfort experienced by burns patients, it is important that health care professionals understand the principles of analgesia and the importance of delivering the right drugs at the right time. An audit in a burns unit revealed that nursing and medical staff lacked confidence in prescribing and administering analgesia, and as a result patients were experiencing uncontrolled pain. A new system of pain assessment and management was developed with an accompanying education programme, which resulted in improved pain management.
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Plasma volume expanders--crystalloid, colloid, or a mixture of both--are used as fluid replacement in patients who have postoperative hypovoloaemia. Despite numerous clinical trials there is little evidence that either classification of plasma volume expander is more beneficial to mortality than the other.