Elsevier

Journal of Professional Nursing

Volume 34, Issue 6, November–December 2018, Pages 488-493
Journal of Professional Nursing

A primer on traumatic brain injury for nursing faculty

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.profnurs.2018.01.002Get rights and content

Highlights

  • Recovery from traumatic brain injury (TBI) can be prolonged and require academic support.

  • Nursing faculty are in a position to support students who face academic challenges after TBI.

  • Integrated communication among stakeholders to support students with these injuries is crucial to ensure academic success.

  • Ongoing faculty inservices and a mechanism for interdisciplinary support are important factors to helping students with TBI.

Abstract

Incidence of traumatic brain injury (TBI) is increasing on campuses. Despite growing media attention and athletic program protocols to address the issue, many are unaware of the potential effects such an injury can cause. This may be true for nursing faculty who teach or advise students recovering from TBI. This article will examine relevant aspects of injury and recovery, as well as ways faculty can advocate for and support students who struggle during what can be a protracted period of recovery. Students' symptoms while recovering from TBI may diminish cognitive, emotional, and physical resources. Because individual responses to similar injuries may vary significantly, an individualized plan of academic support is important. A key component to academic support for students with TBI is integrated communication between athletic department staff, students, faculty, and administration.

Section snippets

Stories of traumatic brain injury

While most people have heard of TBI, many are unaware of the impact and recovery process resulting from this injury. This article will begin with firsthand accounts from individuals, a student and three adults, who graciously agreed to tell their stories in hopes of providing insight about what recovery from TBI can be like.

At a school tournament during the 2016 Fall Break, nineteen year old S. C. was struck in the face by a rebounding volleyball. A straight-A student balancing sports and

Discussion

Students who have a TBI, whether they are athletes or not, may require support to succeed in college. Some TBI professionals informally say: “Once we've seen one concussed patient, we've seen one concussed patient.” This is borne out by research showing that long-term effects can vary significantly between individuals, even when the injury is classified as mild (Mealings et al., 2012). Immediately after injury, students require medical attention for specific diagnosis, guidelines about brain

Conclusion

Each of the people interviewed for this article expressed bewilderment that something they assumed to be a benign and common occurrence could lead to such devastating changes. Because individual responses to TBI can vary so widely, and because early cognitive and physical rest is important, enacting a RTL policy that provides a stepped progression as the student is able to do more cognitive activity can act as a rubric for whether the student moves on.

Incidence of TBI is increasing among

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge the assistance of the individuals who agreed to share their stories of recovery from Traumatic Brain Injury, Tim Peebles for his editorial assistance, and Brenda Srof, PhD for her support during this process.

Conflicts of interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest or financial gain from the publishing of this article.

This article did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

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