Improving Head Injury Communication in Whitewater Unified District Elementary Schools

1. Find
Select
• The school nurse should assist in providing education to school
personnel on the recognition and appropriate management of a
concussed student (Valovich McLeod, 2014).
• Three steps to designing and implementing a concussion program
in a school: (1) establishing policies and procedures, (2)
educating school personnel, and (3) implementing the plans for
students who sustain concussions (Sady, 2011).
• The CDC has published a toolkit of educational materials for
school personnel that highlight symptoms and course of recovery
as they apply to the school setting. This provides a starting point
for concussion education (CDC, 2016).
PDCA:
Discussion of Results
• Comparing teacher confidence and knowledge regarding concussion
signs and symptoms before and after receiving our handout, the data
demonstrated that before the handout 39% of teachers were very or
extremely confident, while after this percentage rose to 87%.
• This data allows us to conclude that our Concussion Signs and
Symptoms handout has improved understanding of concussions among
the majority of participating teachers.
• 84% of participating teachers say that they plan to reference the
Concussion Signs and Symptoms handout when a student is
experiencing a head injury.
Organize
• We teamed up with the WUSD school nurse and together
created a survey in order to assess current teacher/coach
knowledge on head injuries and symptoms.
• We gathered survey results from 47 teachers and coaches
from WUSD elementary schools. This information made
up our baseline data.
Implications for Practice
• Based on our findings, we suggest that school nurses distribute the
Concussions Signs and Symptoms handouts to all teachers and
coaches. In addition to this handout, the nurse should also provide an
annual class for these staff members on recognizing and reporting head
injuries in students.
• In order to see the greatest outcome in monitoring and tending to
students with head injuries, all levels of the system must be targeted.
This includes editing policies and procedures for head injury reporting,
such as calling parents/guardians every time a head injury occurs, and
sending home a head injury incident report.
• A hand-off sheet between the school nurse and teachers/coaches
should be implemented to describe the incident of a student’s head
injury and improve communication.
Understand
• An opportunity exists to improve communication and
knowledge among nurses, parents, teachers, and coaches
regarding head injuries that occur in students that attend
elementary schools in the Whitewater Unified School District
(WUSD).
• The process begins by creating an informational handout for
teachers and coaches. We plan on also changing the protocol
for notifying teachers and parents about a head injury. The
process ends with parents being informed of any head injuries
in their children sooner and teachers and coaches feeling more
prepared to monitor children who have experienced head
injuries.
• By working on this process, we should see improvement in
the early detection of concussion symptoms among elementary
school aged children in the WUSD.
• This is a crucial issue to address for the current system does
not provide adequate communication on the matter to all of the
appropriate personnel. Serious consequences can arise from
the mismanagement of head injuries. References
Background
• Teachers and other school faculty are in positions to monitor
students for head injuries and subsequent symptoms that may
arise.
• The signs and symptoms of concussions can take time to
appear and can become more apparent during concentration
and learning activities in the classroom.
• Proper recognition and response to concussion can prevent
further injury, assist in efficient recovery, and prevent long-
term cognitive complications.
Centers for Disease Control. (2016). Heads Up. Retrieved from
http://www.cdc.gov/headsup/pdfs/custom/
headsupconcussion_fact_sheet_for_schools.pdf
Sady, M.D., Vaughan, C.G., & Gioia, G.A. (2011). School and
the Concussed Youth: Recommendations for
Concussion Education and Management. Physical
Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinics of North America,
22(4). Retreived from
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/
PMC3208828/
Valovich McLeod, T.C., (2014). Managing Concussion in the
School Setting. Healthy Lifestyles. Retrieved from
http://nas.sagepub.com/content/29/5/232.long
Improving Head Injury Communication in Whitewater Unified District Elementary Schools
Brianna Bower, Carly Dickmann, Katie Falligant, Jacqueline Kierstyn, Katelyn McCosky, Sarah Narlock, Ali Rushmer, Elizabeth
Twitchell, and Kat Zimmerman
Clarify
We chose to focus our efforts on increasing communication among
teachers/coaches and the school nurse regarding student head injuries,
as well as enhancing teacher/coach knowledge on this subject.
• Students spend the majority of their school day with teachers and
coaches.
• Often teachers are not educated on how to assess a student for
concussion symptoms after a head injury.
• Currently, there is limited communication between the school nurse
and teachers/coaches when a head injury occurs
NumberofResponses
- Total Number of Responses for Pre Handout Survey = 46
- Total Number of Responses for Post Handout Survey = 38
Comparing Teachers’ Confidence in Ability to
Recognize Concussion Symptoms: Pre- & Post-
Intervention