Body image of patients with burns sequellae: evaluation through the critical incident technique

The present investigation is a descriptive study, with a retrospective, ex-post facto, design. The objectives of this study were to characterize the body image changes in patients with burn sequellae, through the critical incident technique and to identify and categorize critical incidents, comparing them to the characteristics defined by the Taxonomy of the North American Nursing Diagnoses Association (NANDA) for the body image disturbance nursing diagnosis. Thirty-five patients were interviewed. Two types of critical incidents were identified: 'facing the mirror'--the moment the patient looks at himself/herself and notices the changes in his/her body, and 'facing other people'--the moment the patient becomes aware that he/she calls the attention of others. Associated with the perceptions of changes in their bodies, the patients reported feelings of fear (19), rebellion (18) and shame (12). They also presented coping mechanisms of denial (12), rationalization (7), minimization (7) and repression (2). NANDA's body image disturbance diagnosis was identified in all patients.