Psychosocial issues following serious head injury: a case study of an adolescent girl

This article is a case study of an adolescent girl who sustained a serious head injury following an attack by strangers. The head injury caused an epidural hemorrhage that exerted pressure on her brain stem and resulted in spastic quadriplegia. In this case, the major issues in rehabilitation were the patient's ability to learn to communicate and normalize and gain control over various aspects of her life. Because of the lack of a specialized rehabilitation setting for children and adolescents, rehabilitation took place in an acute care setting, which makes this story unusual in many ways. Staff issues were significant because of the nurses' inexperience with rehabilitation issues and because of the setting. This article describes the primary nurse's experience with this patient over several months. During this phase of rehabilitation, psychosocial issues were a major concern. Fifteen months after rehabilitation began, the patient moved back home and returned to high school. She communicates by using a computer and by using her eyes, and she uses a wheelchair. Despite everything, she is determined to get better and to prepare herself for the future.