Most burn survivors and caregivers can remember a special burn nurse who truly impacted and changed the trajectory of their healing journey. In honor of National Nurses Day, we’re celebrating all of the wonderful burn care professionals with Emily Werthman, Ph. D. (c), BA, RN, CBRN!

After losing her mother to a house fire, Emily was drawn to burn care and began her career as a bedside nurse. Over the past 10+ years, she has advanced her career and now holds many positions within the field, including burn program coordinator at the Johns Hopkins Burn Center.

In this episode, we talk with Emily about the trauma, compassion fatigue, burnout burn care nurses face, the recently launched burn nursing specialty certification (CBRN), and research projects involving acute burn pain and childhood adversity. Tune in to hear more about the advancements in burn care nursing! 

Looking for links? Check out our show’s description on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

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Meet Our Guest

Emily Werthman is the burn program coordinator of the Johns Hopkins Burn Center, where she has been a nurse since 2012. 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 is a PhD candidate at the University of Maryland where she studies the relationship between acute burn pain and childhood adversity. Emily is the lead nurse planner for the American Burn Association where she also holds a national committee appointment to the Nursing Committee. 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 Nurse (CBRN) exam. She also serves as a member of BCEN’s board of directors. She was recently appointed a special advisor to the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA)’s burn and blast injury special advisory group. Additionally, she holds adjunct faculty positions in the Johns Hopkins and Stevenson University Schools of Nursing. She publishes and lectures frequently on burn resuscitation, critical care nursing, and burn pain.

Links 

• Listen to The Importance of Good Sleep with Dr. Sheera Lerman Zohar on Apple Podcasts
• Listen to Beyond Survival: A Journey of Self-Love & Resilience With Michelle Escamilla Valladares on Apple Podcasts
• Visit the Board of Certification for Emergency Nursing (BCEN)’s website
• Learn more about the Certified Burn Nurse (CBRN) exam
• View the list of the American Burn Association’s verified burn centers

Podcast Sponsor 

Today’s podcast is powered by Johns Hopkins Medicine! The mission of Johns Hopkins Medicine is to improve the health of the community and the world by setting the standard of excellence in medical education, research and clinical care. Learn more by visiting: www.hopkinsmedicine.org. 

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