A Deep Dive Into the Specialty of Burn Nursing
On episode 507 of The Nurse Keith Show nursing and healthcare career podcast, Keith interviews Dr. Emily Werthman, PhD, RN, CBRN, a dedicated Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN) and the Patient Care Manager and Burn Program Manager at the Johns Hopkins Burn Center in Baltimore.
In the course of their conversation, Keith and Dr. Werthman discuss the growth of the CBRN credential, the anticipation that the CBRN certification will be fully Magnet-accredited in 2025, and the crucial role that nurses play in elevating burn care to new levels of expertise and professionalism. They also discuss the many types of burns that burn nurses may encounter, some of which may not immediately come to mind, but are nonetheless more common than we think.
Burns rank 6th among the ten top preventable injury-related deaths in the United States, with 398,000 people receiving treatment for burns each year. For those nurses who choose to dedicate themselves to this nursing specialty, there is a respected and rigorous certification process and a plethora of possibilities for a fascinating career path as a CBRN.
Emily Werthman, PhD, RN, CBRN is a graduate of the Allegany College nursing program. She also holds a BA in History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, as well as a BSN and MSN from the University of Notre Dame of Maryland. She has her PhD in nursing from the University of Maryland where her research focused on the relationship between acute burn pain and childhood adversity.
Emily is a member of the board and the Lead Nurse Planner for the American Burn Association where she also holds a national committee appointment to the Nursing and Program Committees. She is a subject matter expert, item writer, and Exam Content Review Committee member for the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing’s Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN) exam. She is also a member of BCEN’s board of directors. She serves as a special advisor to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)’s burn and blast injury special advisory group.
Recently, Emily was appointed to the Board Program Committee of the Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors. Additionally, she holds adjunct faculty positions in the Johns Hopkins, Stevenson University, and Community College of Baltimore County Schools of Nursing. Emily publishes and lectures frequently on burn resuscitation, critical care nursing, and burn pain.
Connect with the CBRN world:
- Certified Burn Registered Nurse (CBRN)
- CBRN updates and news
- Burn Nursing Excellence: The CBRN
- National Burn Awareness Week
- YouTube video about the specialty of burn nursing
- Phoenix Society for Burn Survivors
- Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN) 2024 Annual Report
Contact Nurse Keith about holistic career coaching to elevate your nursing and healthcare career at NurseKeith.com. Keith also offers services as a motivational and keynote speaker and freelance nurse writer. You can always find Keith on LinkedIn.
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