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Preschool injuries in child care centers: nursing strategies for prevention
1Barnes College of Nursing, University of Missouri-St. Louis, St. Louis 63121, USA.
Insights
Child care injuries, including cuts and falls, are a significant health issue. Nurses can prevent these injuries by educating providers on assessment and monitoring strategies.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric health
- Injury prevention science
- Child care safety
Background:
- Childhood injuries represent a national health concern, particularly within child care settings.
- Common injuries include cuts, abrasions, and scratches from falls, as well as human bites and pedestrian incidents.
- Child development centers are critical locations for implementing injury prevention programs.
Purpose of the Study:
- To highlight the prevalence of injuries in child care settings.
- To define the nurse's role in educating child care providers on injury prevention.
- To provide strategies and resources for assessing and monitoring injury risks.
Main Methods:
- Review of existing research and anecdotal reports on child care injuries.
- Discussion of common injury types and causes.
- Identification of educational strategies for nurses to implement with child care providers.
Main Results:
- Falls (indoor and playground) are the primary cause of cuts, scratches, and abrasions.
- Human bites and motor vehicle pedestrian injuries are also noted concerns.
- Nurses are pivotal in equipping child care providers with injury prevention knowledge and skills.
Conclusions:
- Nurses play a crucial role in child care injury prevention through education and skill-building.
- Empowering child care providers to assess and monitor risks is essential for reducing injuries.
- Educational resources can enhance the capacity of child care centers to ensure safety.
Abstract:
Injuries to children 0 to 12 years of age pose a national health problem. Injuries are a particular problem in child care settings. Both research and anecdotal reports confirm that most injuries in the child care setting are cuts, scratches, and abrasions caused by falls indoors and in playgrounds. Other injuries are caused by human bites and motor vehicle pedestrian injuries. Child development centers are an obvious focal point to direct injury prevention services by nurses. The nurse's role in injury prevention is to educate the child care providers about injuries and then teach them the skills to assess and monitor injury prevention strategies. This article discusses the problem of injuries in child care centers in general and discusses injury prevention strategies the nurse can share with the child care provider. Educational resources are included to help the child care providers assess and monitor their own center's injury risk. J Pediatr Health Care.