A primer on traumatic brain injury for nursing faculty
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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