ANA RECOGNIZES BURN NURSING AS NEW SPECIALTY NURSING PRACTICE
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Keziah Proctor
301-628-5197
keziah.proctor@ana.org
SILVER SPRING, MD – The American Nurses Association (ANA), representing the interests of the nation’s more than 4 million nurses, announces the formal recognition of burn nursing as a nursing specialty.
Burn nursing incorporates best practices to promote health and wellness for all who are impacted by burn injury, including the patient, family, support system, and community. Burn nursing also focuses on prevention of injury and associated illness and participates in community reintegration while advocating for populations at risk. Burn nurses determine their own actions through independent choice within the full scope of nursing practice and engage in interprofessional collaboration to optimize the health and function of individuals affected by burn injury and their families with known or predicted financial burden, physiologic, psychological, or social alterations. Burn nursing actively promotes and conducts research to improve best practices and outcomes.
“The American Nurses Association is excited to officially recognize burn nursing practice as a nursing specialty. This recognition will help highlight the essential role of burn nurses and the function of burn nursing practice across the health care spectrum,” said ANA President, Ernest Grant, PHD, RN, FAAN. “Burn nursing is a challenging and rewarding discipline that demands all of one’s nursing expertise. I am especially enthused about this recognition because I was a burn nurse for over 35 years of my nursing career. This work fulfilled my passion for community service and education, motivating me to also get involved in advocacy work at the state and national level.”
The American Burn Association (ABA), which promotes and supports burn-related research, education, care, rehabilitation, and prevention, is pleased with this important distinction.
“The American Burn Association is honored by ANA's recognition of burn nursing as a specialty,” said ABA Nursing Professional Certification Committee Chair, Gretchen J. Carrougher, MN, RN. “This recognition is a true milestone for our specialty. It acknowledges the required expertise for the many professional nurses who provide specialty burn care through all phases of injury recovery and rehabilitation.”
Burn nurses are specially educated and trained to treat, support, and promote recovery of those sustaining a burn injury. Their care also includes prevention and educational activities. Burn Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice (2020), an important professional resource, is in production and will be available at www.ameriburn.org in the near future.
ANA is the neutral reviewing body of specialty nursing scope of practice statements and standards of practice, requests for specialty recognition, and more recently affirmation of focused practice competencies.
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About the American Nurses Association
The American Nurses Association (ANA) is the premier organization representing the interests of the nation's 4 million registered nurses. ANA advances the nursing profession by fostering high standards of nursing practice, promoting a safe and ethical work environment, bolstering the health and wellness of nurses, and advocating on health care issues that affect nurses and the public. ANA is at the forefront of improving the quality of health care for all. For more information, visit www.nursingworld.org.