The Effect of Simulation-Based Training on the Preparedness and Burden of Caregiver of Patients With Burns: A Randomised Controlled Study

Major burn injuries are serious traumas that cause physical and psychological problems. The acute period that begins with admission to the hospital is followed by a rehabilitation period that lasts for months or even years. The main goal in the acute care of the patient in hospital is to discharge the patient from the hospital as soon as possible, with the least morbidity, functional and cosmetic loss. The care of the patient in rehabilitation period continues at home, and the home care is provided by informal caregivers. Due to the physiological and psychological changes occurring in the patient with burns, the informal caregiver has important duties such as; helping with or doing feeding, wound care, personal care, organizing household chores, providing economic, medical and psychological support. So that, informal caregivers may experience lack of information and anxiety. Nurses should include the informal caregivers in discharge education to meet the information requirement of them, to prepare them for home care and to reduce anxiety of home care. The basis of discharge education is to help individual to cope with the problems related to the disease and to maintain individual care. Nurses, who play a key role in discharge education, have been keeping up with the change over the years and trying to maintain the effectiveness of education by various methods. The educational environment enriched with different technological tools and materials used in the field of education makes it easier to provide a change of behavior in the desired direction in the learner. A controlled and safe simulation environment ensures patient safety at all times, while ensuring that training is tailored specifically to the needs of the trained. Simulation gives caregivers an opportunity to manage stressful medical events in a risk-free environment, which allows healthcare providers to be involved in and manage the family's traditional education when it comes to caring and teaching families. When the literature on increasing the preparedness of the caregivers for care, and thus reducing the burden of care, no studies evaluating the simulation-based training for informal caregivers were found. This study was needed with the idea that simulation-based training, which is provided with a high fidelity of moulage, will help the caregiver to understand the burn care easily, to be ready for care and therefore to reduce the burden of care.