Concussions and The School Nurse

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Hopefully Helpful School Nurse Tip: Each year thousands of student athletes are diagnosed with a concussion. These blog posts were written to help the school nurse help those students.

What is a concussion?

It won't take long before a student enters your school nurse office and notifies you they have been diagnosed with a concussion. It is important that your student understands what this diagnosis means and as a school nurse you have the opportunity to educate your student. A textbook definition from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is:

"A concussion is a type of traumatic brain injury—or TBI—caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or by a hit to the body that causes the head and brain to move rapidly back and forth. This sudden movement can cause the brain to bounce around or twist in the skull, creating chemical changes in the brain and sometimes stretching and damaging brain cells." (CDC, 2021)

However, that is a very technical and medical definition- will your student understand what that actual means? It is OK to give an actual medical definition, but then follow it up with easy to use words and terms that your student will understand. This will depend on the grade level, age, and compression level of your student.

What are common symptoms of a concussion?

Although school nurses are not allowed to diagnose a concussion, they should be able to recognize and refer for signs and symptoms of a potential concussion caused by a recent head injury. As a school nurse you'll want to know your school district's protocol when dealing with a student who has suffered a head injury at school or comes to school with a concussion diagnosis. Do you know what signs and symptoms to look for? For a review of signs and symptoms related to a concussion read this CDC article titled Concussion Signs and Symptoms.

Are concussions serious?

Although concussions might not be life threatening, the side effects can be serious. Many students recovery within a few weeks, but others might need a few months or even longer to make a complete recovery!

What classroom accommodations can be made to support a student with a concussion?

There are many appropriate and suggested classroom accommodations that can be made when a student is diagnosed with a concussion. Sometimes the physician or athletic trainer might even provide you or the classroom teachers with accommodations when they provide the diagnosis. Other times the school nurse will only receive the written diagnosis. When this happens, what are you accepted to do? Is the school nurse supposed to notify the student's classroom teacher/s or the student's school counselor? Each school or school district should have a written concussion protocol to follow in this situation.

A brief concussion protocol example might be something like this:

School Nurse receives documentation that student has been diagnosed with a concussion
School Nurse notifies classroom teachers and school counselor that the "concussion protocol" has been started
School Nurse asks for or receives updates from students, parents, classroom teachers, and/or school counselor as needed
School Nurse might need to inform athletic trainer or physician of received updates
School Nurse receives documentation the Return To Learn is complete
School Nurse notifies classroom teachers and school counselor that the "return to learn" has been completed
School Nurse asks for or receives updates from students, parents, classroom teachers, and/or school counselor as needed
School Nurse might need to inform athletic trainer or physician of received updates
School Nurse receives documentation the Return To Play is complete
School Nurse notifies classroom teachers and school counselor that the "return to play" has been completed
School Nurse asks for or receives updates from students, parents, classroom teachers, and/or school counselor as needed
School Nurse might need to inform athletic trainer or physician of received updates

The above are only brief suggestions ... as a school nurse you'll want to check on your school district's specific policies and procedures regarding concussion. If your district doesn't have one, then you might want to work on creating one to use at your school when needed.

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