Burn Staging Cheatsheet

This nursing cheatsheet will help you learn about burn staging, which classifies burns based on their severity. There are four primary stages:

1. 1st Degree (Superficial): The skin remains intact, with erythema (redness) and pain, but no blistering.
2. 2nd Degree (Partial Thickness): The burn is blistered, moist, and red, and is very painful.
3. 3rd Degree (Full Thickness): In this stage, nerve endings are destroyed, which might result in no pain at this depth. The skin can appear red, tan, black, and have a dry, leathery texture.
4. 4th Degree (Full Thickness with Involvement of Underlying Tissues): The burn may appear dry and dull, potentially revealing ligaments, tendons, muscle, and bones.

The extent of a burn is often described as a percentage of the body surface area affected​​.