Journal of trauma nursing : the official journal of the Society of Trauma Nurses
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Experiencing a traumatic event and then the required care for the physical injuries can elicit stress symptoms in the injured child and parents. Stress-related symptoms affect a significant number of injured children and can have an impact on emotional and physical health outcomes after injury. Yet the majority of children who suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder postinjury go undiagnosed and untreated. ⋯ Acute stress disorder is diagnosed when the stress symptoms persist less than 1 month postinjury and affect normal functioning. Inclusion of screening for acute stress and the development of models and guidelines are needed to systematically incorporate the care for the emotional trauma as an integral part of pediatric trauma care. Pediatric trauma nurses with knowledge and resources are in a position to minimize potentially traumatic aspects of the care they deliver, recognize traumatic stress symptoms, and help parents to support their child's coping and promote appropriate help seeking.
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Review Case Reports
Management of embedded foreign body: penetrating stab wound to the head.
Penetrating craniocerebral trauma is an injury in which a projectile violates the skull but does not exit. The significance of penetrating injuries to the head depends largely on the circumstances of the injury, the velocity of impact, and attributes of the projectile. While most penetrating head injuries are caused by firearms, lower-velocity mechanisms of penetrating brain injury present unique challenges for the multidisciplinary team involved with the delivery of care. Appropriate management can lead to optimal outcomes and limit secondary brain injury.
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It is expected that over the next decade the population of older adults in the United States will increase dramatically. As the older adult population increases, the number of older adults involved in traumatic accidents is also expected to climb. ⋯ This article provides a clinical guideline for the assessment and management of pain in older adults with traumatic rib fractures, and an approach for pain assessment, which includes the use of the numeric rating scale as well as incentive spirometry. The modalities used for pain management include epidural analgesia, paravertebral analgesia, patient controlled analgesia, and the use of oral opioids.
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Studies have shown that therapeutic hypothermia (TH) improves outcomes in patients who have experienced a cardiac arrest (; ). This article discusses TH and the process used by one emergency department to develop and implement an evidence-based protocol on TH for the postresuscitation patient.
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The Joint Theater Trauma System (JTTS) is a formal system of trauma care designed to improve the medical care and outcomes for combat casualties of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. This article describes the JTTS Trauma Performance Improvement Plan and how JTTS personnel use it to facilitate performance improvement across the entire continuum of combat casualty care.