Treatment for POISON IVY, POISON OAK, AND POISON SUMAC

The Rhus group of plants, including poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac is probably responsible for more cases of allergic contact dermatitis than all other agents combined. These plants are extremely common in many areas, and about half of the popu­lation is allergic to them; another 20 percent would become so if casually exposed to the plants. The flowers and fruits of the Rhus group are white to yellow. The rash is caused by arloily substance, referred to as urushiol, excreted in the sap of the plants. Since the active agent is the same for all these plants, the rashes caused by them are indistinguishable. Dead plants, stems, twigs, roots, or particles of plant matter carried in smoke can produce wide­spread and severe dermatitis.

Common poison ivy is found throughout the United States and Canada, with the exception of the extreme southwest and the west coast. The plant grows as a vine or low-growing shrub without support; its leaves are arranged in groups of three and usually have notched edges.

Poison sumac is found as a shrub or tree, but never a vine, in damp, swampy areas, particularly in the eastern United States. The leaves are arranged in pairs along a central rib. The pairs number from seven to thirteen and have a single leaflet at the end.

Jingles helpful to remember:

Leaves of three, let it be;
Leaves of five, let it thrive!

Leaves of three, quickly flee;
Berries white, poisonous sight!

Fruits yellow, poison a fellow;
Fruits red, go ahead!

Those who are allergic to the Rhus plants may also be allergic to several related plants, including the mango, found in Hawaii, California, and Florida; the ginkgo tree, found in the southeastern United States; and cashew nut shell oil.

Treatment for POISON IVY, POISON OAK, AND POISON SUMAC

The early stages of contact dermatitis are best treated with cold, wet soaks or dressings, especially when there is blistering and oozing. These soaks cleanse and dry the area, regardless of the cause of the rash, and relieve itching and burning. Wet dressings may be applied by dipping a turkish towel or clean cloth in cool tap water or ice water. (A colder solution is more effective in relieving itching.) One can combine water and cracked ice, wrap it in a towel, and apply it directly to the area. Larger areas may be soaked in pans, buckets or tubs, but the water should not be ice cold. A bath tub is especially useful when the rash covers much of the body or involves the groin, buttocks, or genitals. (See the Formulary for a description of agents and methods for soaks and wet dressings.)

Calamine lotion is very helpful in the acute blistering and oozing stages of contact dermatitis. It has a drying effect and relieves itching. Several gels are also useful (see Formulary). Once the rash becomes dry, soaks and drying agents should be discon­tinued, since continued drying may be used for scaling, peeling or chapping.

Individuals with severe cases of contact dermatitis should see a physician. A doctor treating such a case will probably prescribe either antihistamines to be taken orally, or cortisone derivatives in spray, cream, oral or injection form.

At this point, I would like to condemn the use of some of the over-the-counter, non-prescription preparations used for the treat­ment of poison ivy and similar problems. Topical anesthetics, especially benzocaine, are notorious agents of allergic contact dermatitis. Antihistamines, though they seldom cause allergic reactions when given by mouth, may do so when applied to the skin. Zirconium compounds can also produce persistent skin reactions. In general, allergies to medications develop more readily when they are applied to the skin than when they are taken internally. Only the strongest of these medications contain enough benzocaine to relieve itching. Moreover, the only preparation that contains enough benzocaine to be effective when applied to the skin is an ointment intended for use on hemorrhoids! Like­wise, antihistamine creams and zirconium compounds are of ques­tionable effectiveness.

When purchasing medications for use on the skin, be sure to read the container label carefully. It should list each ingredient. The names of antihistamines generally end in -ine or -amine, as do a number of non-antihistamines. The names of medications related to benzocaine usually end in -caine. If there is any doubt as to whether a preparation contains an antihistamine or benzocaine, ask your pharmacist. Don't ask him whether you should use it or not-you already know! Just put it back on the shelf and look for something else. Remember, you can't go wrong with plain cala­mine, but Caladryl contains an antihistamine!

Prevention - POISON IVY, POISON OAK, AND POISON SUMAC

Any type of contact dermatitis, whether allergic or irritant in origin, is much easier to prevent than treat. Learning to recognize poison ivy is simple, but this cannot prevent unwitting exposure, e.g., to vines, roots, or smoke when the characteristic leaves are absent. Elimination of the plants and vines from yards, gar­dens, campgrounds, picnic grounds, parks, and other areas fre­quently visited is of clear value. Protective clothing should be worn. If it is feared that the clothing has been contaminated with the plants, it should be removed and laundered as soon as possible. Protective creams or ointments are used but generally have been disappointing.

If the skin has been exposed to a plant in the Rhus group, one should bathe as soon as possible. The oleoresin penetrates the skin very rapidly; in order to prevent the rash entirely, it must be washed off within ten minutes. The rash itself is not contagious, though any oleoresin remaining on the skin can cause more dermatitis in the same person or someone else. The fluid from blisters or oozing skin does not contain the oleoresin and cannot spread the rash, though it may irritate the skin.

All about Trauma

Trauma: It’s A Wolf Taking Over Your Being In The Garb Of Sheep’s Clothing
Trauma can best be likened to a wolf that exists in your heart and mind in the garb of sheep’s clothing.

Know What Head Trauma Is And Who It Affects The Most
Head trauma continues to be a subject that is giving rise to enormous amount of concern - even in spite of much advancement taking place in medicinal sciences in this twenty-first century.

Pediatric Head Trauma: A Big Challenge For Doctors
Pediatric head trauma is a very serious issue – mainly because it accounts for much mortality as well as morbidity amongst children and in fact, as many as a tenth of all children are known to have sustained significant injuries to....

Traumatic Head Injury: A Problem Of Immense Magnitude
There is a great risk that traumatic head injury can and does lead to damaging of the delicate brain tissue and even if such damage is not actually visible;

Head Trauma Symptom, When Noticed, Must Be Taken Very Seriously
The severity of head trauma symptoms depends to a great deal on the extent of injury and therefore they can vary from mild to moderate to very severe.

Impossible To Predict How Long It Takes To Recover From Severe Head Trauma
The treatment of patients suffering from severe head trauma will take a long time – in most cases, at least.

Head Trauma Rehabilitation
Head trauma rehabilitation is a very important as well as critical aspect to helping a head trauma patient recover from their injuries. In fact,

A Few Pertinent Facts Related To Trauma Nursing
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Trauma Nurse Core Course
Trauma has become a major cause for concern – both on the national as well as international stage and there is enough data available to back this conclusion.

Trauma Nurse Specialist
However, there is at present a shortage of good trauma nurse specialists and given the extreme amount of stress and pressure ..

Pediatric Trauma Nursing
Children need to be treated as more than just small adults and in fact, it is also necessary to understand the peculiar differences in a child’s anatomy as compared to that of an adult.

Trauma Nursing Certification
After completing trauma nursing certification, you should be able to find a job as a registered nurse in a hospital and even in emergency departments.

Trauma Nursing Education
Trauma nursing is a career option that is worth taking seriously and in fact it is a profession that is quite in demand all over the world. It

Trauma Nurse Practitioner
At present, there are dynamic changes taking place in politics as well as in technology and in communities as well as in hospitals – mainly because patient populations in the world are becoming more complex.

What You Need To Know About Childhood Trauma
A lot of people go through life without really understanding why they respond violently to certain situations.

Child Abuse Trauma: Protecting Children From Emotional And Psychological Abuses
According to experts, cases of child abuse trauma are on the rise across the country today. Children are very vulnerable creatures and they need all the protection that they need.

Two Good Ways Of Overcoming Childhood Trauma
Are you one of those people who had a difficult childhood? If you are one of those people who suffered from early childhood trauma and have never really recovered from such experience, it is not yet too late to seek help.

Early Childhood Trauma
According to experts, early childhood trauma can have a lot of negative effects on a person's life. A lot of children who suffered from early childhood trauma grow up to be trouble adults.

Healing Childhood Trauma: Helping Your Kid Overcome Fear
Most parents do realize that their children have been traumatized by certain events. For instance, falling from a bike and skinning his or her knees can be quite traumatic for many children.

Childhood Trauma Symptom: How Can You Tell If Your Child Is Suffering From Trauma?
Different children displays different childhood trauma symptoms thus it is very important for parents to be always vigilant when it comes to spotting childhood trauma symptom in their children.

Childhood Trauma Therapy
A divorce is never easy for both the children and the parents. However, there are times when staying married to your spouse will cause more damage than good to you and your children.

Emotional Trauma: A Personal Overview
Emotional trauma can be a very debilitating condition, all the more so because it is often overlooked by the sufferer’s friends, family and colleagues as simply a character flaw,

An Act Of Love: Healing Emotional Trauma
Healing emotional trauma begins with understanding it. Emotional trauma is stress exploded beyond a person’s ability to process an extreme life experience or to cope with the occurrence.

Childhood Emotional Trauma: The Issue Of Volunteers
Dealing with emotional trauma is a matter for the experts, but there is so much of it around that we need to know something about it

The Way For Dealing With Emotional Trauma
Many of us in life go through hard times. Though sometimes there are people that find it very difficult to deal with emotional trauma.

Emotional Trauma Recovery
It is never easy to start all over again especially if you have through a traumatic experience.

Severe Emotional Trauma
Life is never standing still as it is always changing. This means that events in our lives that are often beyond our control do and will happen.

Symptoms Of Emotional Trauma Lying In A Daze
The effects of emotional trauma are often deemed to be very severe and potentially dangerous.

Chest Trauma Information
Blunt injury to the chest is the most common chest trauma, and this blunt injury can affect some or all of the chest wall and thoracic cavity (although thoracic trauma is slightly different).

Chest Trauma Information

Chest trauma causes a great deal of death in the United States every year. Blunt injury to the chest is the most common chest trauma, and this blunt injury can affect some or all of the chest wall and thoracic cavity (although thoracic trauma is slightly different). The components that can be injured are the bony skeleton (like the ribs, sternum, scapulae, and clavicles), esophagus, heart, lungs, and the diaphragm. Chest injury and trauma affects some of the very important parts and components of our bodies, which is why it is so very dangerous and is a significant source of mortality today.

Chest Trauma Throughout History

Chest trauma has been reported since nearly the beginning of time. The first known writings on chest trauma date back to the fifth century in Hippocrates’ writings. These writings have a series of chest trauma reports, and they do include thoracic trauma as well. The Edwin Smith Surgical Papyrus was written somewhere around three thousand to sixteen hundred BC also has chest trauma reports and treatment options.

Death Information On Chest Trauma

Trauma in general is the first leading cause for morbidity, hospitalization, disability, and even death in Americans from the age of one to around the mid fifties. Many traumas are caused by accidents, and as such almost one hundred thousand people die every year in the United States from accidents (not including car accidents).

Trauma itself is also responsible for about one hundred thousand deaths every year in the United States. Based on emergency room records and speculation, it has been estimated that twelve out of every million people have chest injury and trauma every day. However, not all of these injuries require any hospitalization at all. An estimated thirty three percent of these chest injuries and chest traumas require hospital admission. For these one hundred thousand deaths per year, blunt thoracic injuries are responsible for about twenty to twenty five percent of them and chest trauma contributes for another fifty percent of deaths.

Causes Of Chest Trauma

The leading cause for blunt chest trauma is motor vehicle accidents. These accidents are responsible for about seventy to eighty percent of blunt chest injuries. Because of this, many preventative measures to reduce these often times fatal car accidents have been put in place. There are speed limit restrictions and many states require seat belts. For children, there are some strict car seat laws in many states. Other causes of blunt chest injuries are pedestrians being struck by vehicles, acts of violence, blast injuries, and falls.

Symptoms Of Emotional Trauma Lying In A Daze

The effects of emotional trauma are often deemed to be very severe and potentially dangerous. Mental health is as important as physical health and people cannot function without having some balance formed.

It is not often easy to see the symptoms of emotional trauma especially if the personal is good at hiding the emotions all the time. However if your child has been through a traumatic event don’t allow them to pull the wool over your eyes.

You need to make sure that they are ok and the obvious symptom of emotional trauma is emotional disruption. This means that the person can suddenly become withdrawn or excessive in their actions. Human emotions are a complex thing and chest trauma in the form of emotions can be hard to deal with especially if you are a child or teenager.

Learn To Identify And Help With Symptoms Of Emotional Trauma

Finding out about the symptoms of emotional trauma will make more able to spot when the trouble starts. Talking to your family doctor means that you will be able to give your child the help that they need by identifying the symptoms of the emotional trauma and it wont be easy.

Teenagers are already often hard individuals as they grown into their own skin but they might think that they have things under control but they don’t. Sometimes it is not words that will help you notice the changes and thus the symptoms of emotional trauma it is actions. You will have to allow you child to learn to trust you and you can do this through the actions of support.

Sometimes asking how they are doing is definitely not the path to go, as they will withdraw from you even more. A hug even though sometimes unwanted is the best thing. Talk less and just show them that you are there for them. It will be hard because most people think that talking things through is the way, sometimes listening and just holding someone allows them to come out in their own time.

This will require you to have patience and this can be seen as the side effect of emotional trauma symptoms. You have to wait and sometimes take the harsh words in the chin but they are hurting and they don’t know how to make sense of it. You cant always protect them form the world and its cruelty but at least if they know that they can depend on your love when times get hard, then you will have done your job as a parent.

Severe Emotional Trauma

Life is never standing still as it is always changing. This means that events in our lives that are often beyond our control do and will happen. In that regards we will at some point in our lives experience severe emotional trauma.

Traumatic events are said to affect us so badly because we have hearts that love and pain is part of such joyful feeling. These might be someone’s own personal survival thoughts but it is important that you never allow yourself to wallow in self-pity.

It is understandable that severe emotional trauma will make you want to draw back from life and perhaps even claim your own life, but the darkness never lasts. Believe me on occasion you do not ever want to hear people tell you that it will get better, because when you are in the moment all you can see is your own pain.

It is only natural that the people around you will want to give the support and love that they can and no one can truly understand and feel your pain. Therefore it is selfish to think that they should know what to do. They are doing the best that they can with the little knowledge and guidelines that they have when it comes to severe emotional trauma. They might not even be aware that you are displaying the symptoms of emotional trauma, so cut them some slack

Severe Emotional Trauma Can Blind From The Here And Now

You will need to have people who care about you close and counselling is always a recommended path when it comes to severe emotional trauma recovery. That is because talking things through makes you realize that it is not all that bad and that you can overcome what ever it is that has happened.

Never for once believe that you will forget but you will be able to move on and make a change. Occasionally all the emotions of the day will come back because something will trigger it, but you will be fine. Allow yourself to feel. Don’t shut the emotion out that is the important thing. These things are often easier said than done and that is why you need to first mentally prepare yourself.

It will not be easy, talking about the severe emotional trauma means that you might feel vulnerable. However you have to tell yourself this, in order to be strong you have to allow yourself to be weak so that you can heal.

The Way For Dealing With Emotional Trauma

Many of us in life go through hard times. Though sometimes there are people that find it very difficult to deal with emotional trauma. The emotions of a human control who they are and their social standard. Dealing with emotional trauma is not something to be done on your own. The mind state of a person while going through an emotional traumatic experience cannot handle the pressure of having to heal themselves.

To confide in someone to let them know that you are going through a hard time is the first step. You are never the only one going through the same kind of experience. There are may people that are dealing with emotional trauma like you. There are many support groups that get together and talk about the emotional trauma. The amount varies in the kind of groups. Some groups specify as to what the trauma was brought on by like rapes and abuse. The kind of treatment of being around people that are going through the same thing is a step to dealing with emotional trauma.

If you do not want to be in a group and you prefer to be more personal a psychologist can help you step by step to get you on your way to emotional trauma recovery. The psychologist is a trained professional that will help you and will keep your life and your treatment confidential. Dealing with emotional trauma is an easier road when you have all the help and support you need.

Getting The Right Advice

The right advice for dealing with emotional trauma is given in many places. There are trained professionals that can give advice over the phone and lead you into the right direction. Over the phone you can make your statements and ask your questions anonymously. There are also friends and family members that may help you out and point you to the right direction to ensure your recovery. On the Internet you can research what are your symptoms and how do they affect you in your daily life.

Dealing with emotional trauma is never easy. The amount of psychological damage it can do to you may be something you have to live with for the rest of your life. It does not have to be that way there are people that can care for you in a time where it can be too hard for you. Thus, giving you time to get your life back and recovering.

Emotional Trauma Recovery

It is never easy to start all over again especially if you have through a traumatic experience. It might always seem that life is dealing you a set of nasty cards and you might feel like doing is lying down and giving up. However you will need to make the change, only you can say ok this has happened but I have to move on. No one said that life was easy and neither is emotional trauma recovery.

You need to want to get better and yes we all understand to some degree that severe emotional trauma is not something that you can just recover from just like that. Emotional trauma recovery is about letting people back in because when you have been shaken up by life you tend to want to pull back.

You don’t want to feel the pain anymore so you shut people out. If it was something that was really painful like the loss of a loved one you will find that the emotional trauma recovery will not be that easy.

Time Will Lead The Way For Emotional Trauma Recovery

Somehow when something so painful happens you just want t watch life happen. Indeed it is true that we all will die, but while there is life left in us we should live. It is not selfish to want to move on and it is only human that you need to heal. The saying that time heals all wounds is not entirely true, in fact it should be that time numbs all wounds.

In time you do make certain improvements to get the process of emotional trauma recovery started, but there are days when everything comes back. It happens all the time because with emotional trauma you will never forget and you should not expect to.

It might be hard to reach out to all the hands that are willing to help you, but sometimes you have to be willing to take that step. If you are not ready then the people around you will have to accept that, but you have to try not to sulk and make them withdraw from you. Don’t blame yourself or others as that only makes it even harder for to make that path to emotional trauma recovery easy.

We need other people and when you are in the darkness you might think that is not true. Pain has a way of distorting the view and personal perceptions and once it is cured, you will be able to think clearly again.

Childhood Emotional Trauma: The Issue Of Volunteers

Dealing with emotional trauma is a matter for the experts, but there is so much of it around that we need to know something about it – even if it’s just enough to realize that a lack of knowledge can do more harm than good. This is especially true when dealing with childhood emotional trauma among sufferers who are still children.

Children’s Homes are filled with traumatised children. Even if they haven’t been abused, the very fact that they are there is a result of a traumatic life event. Sudden death of a primary care-giver is a huge factor in causing childhood emotional trauma. Even if the reasons are purely economic, being wrenched away from their family and their known environment into that lonely, unknown world, cannot escape causing them severe trauma. In too many cases, however, abuse or neglect was the cause of their being relocated.

The circumstances leading up to a child’s incarceration into an institution ensures that the child is already traumatized by the time admission takes place. From that moment on, there will be many circumstances to add to their trauma, not least, their sense of abandonment and loneliness. For them, childhood emotional trauma is already a reality that will shape their futures.

Childhood Emotional Trauma; Volunteers and Hosts

Volunteers and hosts who visit children in institutions, or take them to their homes on a regular basis, should be aware that their own lack of training in childhood emotional trauma could very easily undo all the progress that the children’s therapists have made. For example, abused children do not see normal discipline from the same perspective as emotionally secure children do. Childhood emotional trauma changes a child’s perception of discipline and punishment. When you smack your child’s bottom, indignation is probably the only result. When you raise your hand to an abused child, even playfully, the moment your hand is raised, all trust disappears and immediate distress is triggered. No matter how much you reassure the child, that trust is gone – and the child is convinced that yet another adult has proved that adults cannot be trusted.

Another consequence of childhood emotional trauma is that these children often have a very low self-esteem. ‘Normal’ teasing may inadvertently trigger responses in them that take you by surprise. Careless use of words can cause immense damage to already-fragile self-esteems.

Childhood emotional trauma carries devastating consequences. My purpose is not to discourage volunteer activities. I URGE more people to get involved. You CAN have a HUGE positive influence. My purpose is to emphasise the need to understand the issue and to encourage more people to do one of the many short study courses offered in childhood emotional trauma before volunteering.

An Act Of Love: Healing Emotional Trauma

Healing emotional trauma begins with understanding it. Emotional trauma is stress exploded beyond a person’s ability to process an extreme life experience or to cope with the occurrence. It can be caused by a number of triggers - the sudden loss of a loved one, a serious accident or injury, violence or continuous violent abuse, abuse in all its forms, prolonged neglect or an incident where extreme fear resulted from neglect, natural disasters, amongst others factors. Being a witness to such an occurrence, particularly where serious injury, fatalities or emotional suffering are involved, can also be a cause.

Healing emotional distress is an act of love. In my opinion, it should be done by someone with knowledge and expertise, with the active support of friends and loved ones who if not involved, could unintentionally exacerbate the condition. The expression “The road to hell is paved with good intentions” can be tragically true when unqualified do-gooders decide to ‘help.’ This is especially true in cases where childhood emotional trauma is involved.

Healing emotional trauma is a team function

There are a number of organizations and individuals qualified in the field of healing emotional trauma - psychiatrists, psychologists and trained counsellors in various organizations and private practices are available. However, I feel that the person’s direct family or appointed friends should be involved in understanding the therapy involved. They form an important part of the team in healing emotional trauma, as they are the ones who are close to the sufferer in everyday life situations. By understanding the process, they are able to offer support and encouragement. Most important in my mind is that they understand enough to not destroy all the progress being made by the patient and the professionals!

Healing emotional trauma, or treatment, to be more accurate, usually takes the form of talk therapy, behaviour therapy, cognitive behavioural therapy, where one knowingly changes one’s thoughts and actions, and a systematic approach to desensitizing the factor that triggers the trauma – or reducing the intensity of the reaction to it.

I have read that more recent developments in healing emotional trauma can include forms of psychotherapy and body therapies related to new brain science information, incorporating neurological stimuli. The technicalities of healing emotional trauma are not the topic of my discourse here, but the need for it.

Emotional trauma is real and cruel. Healing emotional trauma is crucial to the sufferer’s well-being and potential in life – but it is also a way of preventing more emotional trauma to others, resulting from behavioural disorders of the sufferer. Supporting the healing process is an act of love. Don’t just hope that it’ll go away.

Emotional Trauma: A Personal Overview

Emotional trauma can be a very debilitating condition, all the more so because it is often overlooked by the sufferer’s friends, family and colleagues as simply a character flaw, which they expect the sufferer to overcome and just “pull himself or herself together.” Such an attitude exacerbates the condition with dire effects. Healing emotional trauma depends upon being able to recognize it in the first place and accepting it as a treatable condition.

Not only can emotional trauma be treated, but it must be treated – for the sake of the sufferer, as well as for the sake of those affected by his or her actions and attitudes as a result of the worsening condition. Left untreated, the psychological distress of the sufferer can lead to behavioural patterns that adversely affect those who are dependant upon him or her, thus possibly leading to emotional distress to them as well, becoming an unbreakable cycle.

We live in a traumatized world – and the greater the behavioural disorders are that result from it, the more our offspring will suffer emotion trauma stemming from ours, until it becomes the norm.

What Is Emotional Trauma?

Trauma is stress gone haywire; too much to cope with. It is an ongoing inability to deal with an extreme life event, stemming from a number of possible sources such as
natural disasters, war, violence, abuse, the sudden loss of someone upon whom we depend, an act by someone that destroys faith and trust, serious accidents, or loss of self worth in an inability to cope with a situation.

Abuse can include repeated acts of violence, rape or severe neglect. Sudden loss of someone upon whom one is dependant includes emotional dependency, like a sibling.

Emotional trauma may occur not only in a person suffering one of those causes, but in someone who has witnessed such an event.

Dealing with emotional trauma oneself – that is the sufferer – is too much to realistically expect. Sufferers need help to deal with emotional trauma, and when we recognize the condition in anyone, we have a moral and humane responsibility to assist that person in getting the help he or she requires.

Emotional trauma is a cruel affliction for anyone to suffer. By encouraging and helping such a person to receive treatment, we not only help the person to ease the suffering, but we are helping to establish that person to pursue a life where his or her potential can be fulfilled. In addition, we may well be helping others within the circle of the sufferer’s influence to avoid their own emotional trauma resulting from behavioural disorders of the sufferer.

Childhood Trauma Therapy

A divorce is never easy for both the children and the parents. However, there are times when staying married to your spouse will cause more damage than good to you and your children. In cases like these, you may not really have any better option but to file for a divorce. Unfortunately, separation can cause emotional trauma among children and some children take these things badly. Some children will need bit of childhood trauma therapy before they can begin to accept what the divorce and move on.

Dealing With Emotional And Psychological Distress

It is not always easy to deal with emotional and psychological trauma on children. A lot of children feel that they are to blame for the breakdown of their parents' marriage and this feeling of guilt can be very hard to shake off. If you children show symptoms of trauma after your divorce and you feel that you are ill equipped to handle the situation, you should get professional help. Find a good therapist who can provide childhood trauma therapy for your children. Professional childhood trauma therapy is your best option at this point. However, you should first talk to your children about the idea of gong through childhood trauma therapy, especially when your children are already within the age of reason. Dragging your older kids to the therapist and subjecting them to childhood trauma therapy without their consent will not really do any good. You need to make your older kids understand that childhood trauma therapy is very important and that it can help them cope with their emotional and psychological problems.

To stay connected with your children, it may be a good idea for you to join them during their childhood trauma therapy sessions. Ask the therapist to schedule for joint therapy sessions with you and your children where you and your children can express your feelings towards each other. Joint therapy sessions can help your and your children face your emotional and psychological problems together after the divorce.

Moving On After Therapy

You and your children may be able to resolve your emotional and psychological issues after a few childhood trauma therapy sessions. Once you and your children have come to terms with the divorce, you need to work as a team to turn things around and live happier and more productive lives. It will probably take sometime before things will get to normal again but if you and work kids work together, things will be a lot easier to handle.

Childhood Trauma Symptom: How Can You Tell If Your Child Is Suffering From Trauma?

Different children displays different childhood trauma symptoms thus it is very important for parents to be always vigilant when it comes to spotting childhood trauma symptom in their children. As parents, you need to know your children very well to spot both drastic and subtle changes in their temperaments. You should also be also to judge as to whether or not the change in your children's temperaments is caused by some traumatic experiences.

Not all changes in your children's temperaments are symptoms of childhood trauma. For instance, some children throw tantrums for other reasons other than trauma and some children display repetitive and compulsive attitudes without really suffering from trauma. Since different children take on different symptoms of childhood trauma, it is therefore very important to know each child better to determine if a certain child is indeed suffering from trauma.

Get To Know Your Child Better

Knowing your child well can help you detect symptoms of childhood trauma. The best way to get to know your child better is to spend more time with him or her. As your child grows older, he or she will go through a lot of development stages and if you are not always around to witness all these changes, you may find it difficult to understand your child later on. Being busy in you career and with other concerns in life is not an excuse for you not to give quality time to your child. Spend quality time with your child as much as possible.

Develop Positive Attitudes In Your Child

Prevention is the best childhood trauma therapy. You need to make sure that your child can handle stressful situations by developing positive attitude in him or her. The best way to develop positive attitudes in your children is to set examples. Children are natural copycats and if they see how cool their parents handle certain stressful situations, they will most likely do the same thing when they are confronted with more or less the same types of situations.

Another way to develop positive attitudes in your child is to show him/her a lot of love and support. Do not talk down on your child. If your child commit a mistake, do not shout at your child or tell him/her that he/she is up to no good. Always show your child that they are special and they can be what they want to be if they work hard enough to reach their goals.

Healing Childhood Trauma: Helping Your Kid Overcome Fear

Most parents do realize that their children have been traumatized by certain events. For instance, falling from a bike and skinning his or her knees can be quite traumatic for many children. Many children would not even dream of riding in a bike again after such a painful fall. If your child shows childhood trauma symptom after a very painful event, you should never ignore that symptom. The key to healing childhood trauma is to take action as early as possible and help the child face the problem without causing any unreasonable anxiety on the part of the child. We must understand that agitating the child will not help in healing childhood trauma. In fact, agitating the child many even cause yet another problem of childhood trauma.

Facing The Problem

Healing childhood trauma is something that every parent should learn. Yes, healing childhood trauma is not something that parents can learn to do overnight but with patients and a lot of love, parents can learn the art of healing childhood trauma. The key here is to recognize the problem at its earliest stage. When a child starts to display childhood trauma symptoms such as withdrawal or avoidance, parents should find ways to draw out the child's attention and gently remind him or her about the event that traumatized him or her. One of the best ways to reengage the child on the events that caused him or her lot of pain is to simply ask him or her to tell something about what happened. If the child does not want to talk about what happened to him or her, the parents can ask the child to draw a picture of what happened. It may take sometime before the child will have the courage to recall what happened to him or her. The parents must be very careful not to push the child or force him or her to remember what happened. Once the child warms up the idea of telling a story or drawing pictures of what happened to him or her, things will become a lot easier.

Do Not Draw Conclusions

Some parents jump into conclusions as to how their children are feeling after a traumatic event. Although parents generally have a haunch as to how their children feel, they should never jump into conclusions. Jumping into conclusions will limit their understanding of the problem and may prevent them from actually healing the childhood trauma. Instead of jumping into conclusions, parents should observe the reaction of their children to the event and get some clues about how their children feel about the situation. This way, the parents will have a better grasp of the situation and will be able to help their children better.

Early Childhood Trauma

According to experts, early childhood trauma can have a lot of negative effects on a person's life. A lot of children who suffered from early childhood trauma grow up to be trouble adults. Fortunately, healing childhood trauma is possible even among adults. Many troubled adults are able to resolve their negative feelings and emotions by tracing back the roots of these negative feelings and emotions to their childhood. If you are one of those people who have unresolved issues during your childhood, it is time for you to deal with the monsters in your closet.

Face Your Fears

Unreasonable fear is one of the most common systems of early childhood trauma. Many people suffer from uncontrollable and unreasonable fears as adults were abused as children or suffered through some very distressing experiences while they were yet very young. If you are one of those people who suffer from mild to severe panic attacks, you see a therapist. Something must have happened in your early childhood that causes these unreasonable and uncontrollable fears to surface now that you are already an adult. Unless you understand what is causing all your unreasonable fears and anxieties, it will be difficult for you to lead a normal life. Yes, facing the monsters in your closet is not an easy task but if you really want to get over your early childhood trauma, you just have to be very brave.

Learn To Forgive Yourself

Many people who suffer from early childhood trauma often feel unreasonably guilty about a lot of things. For instance, children who suffer early childhood trauma when their parents separated while they were still very young often blame themselves for their parents' failed marriage. It doesn't matter if their parents' break-up has nothing to do with them in the first place; these people still blame themselves for what happened. If you are one of those people who still harbor a lot of unreasonable guilt and that guilty feeling is inferring with your relationship with other people, you better do something about that guilt before you ruin your life and the lives of other people around you. If telling yourself over and over again that it was not your fault that your parents separated will not work, then by all means, find a professional who can help you understand the way you feel. Understanding your feelings is very important in order for you to finally be able to forgive yourself and let go of your guilt.

Two Good Ways Of Overcoming Childhood Trauma

Are you one of those people who had a difficult childhood? If you are one of those people who suffered from early childhood trauma and have never really recovered from such experience, it is not yet too late to seek help. Overcoming childhood trauma is something that can be done at any stage in your life. Even if you are already an adult and you have made something out of yourself over the years, the fact that you still harbor some resentments and strong feelings about what happened to you as a child is a sign that you are not yet over that painful childhood experience. To resolve your childhood issues once and for all, you need to find ways of overcoming childhood trauma and be at peace with yourself.

Get Professional Help

Overcoming childhood trauma is a big task. If you have kept all your feelings locked up inside of you for a long time, it may not be easy to deal with them now. Forget about everything you have heard about facing your fears. Some people are not so good at facing their fears on their own. If you do not feel confident about the idea of overcoming childhood trauma on your own, you should seek professional help. Find a good therapist who can help you understand yourself and help you deal with your childhood issues. There many good therapists out there who can help you with your emotional and psychological problems. You don't even have to worry that other people will learn about those dirty secrets that you kept inside you over the years. Therapists are sworn under the law to keep all the files of the patients confidential and unless you authorize your therapist to share your medical records, your therapist cannot do so. Only the court can force your therapist to open your medical records and only when you medical records are relevant to a case pending in court.

Talk About How You Feel

Talking about your feelings to your friend and family members is one of the best ways of overcoming childhood trauma. Talking releases a lot of emotional burdens from deep within you and helps you find peace within yourself. Yes, it is not easy to talk about how you feel even to your friends and family members but once you feel comfortable about the idea of sharing your thoughts and your feelings with others, talking about how you feel will become easier for you.

Child Abuse Trauma: Protecting Children From Emotional And Psychological Abuses

According to experts, cases of child abuse trauma are on the rise across the country today. Children are very vulnerable creatures and they need all the protection that they need. Unfortunately, there are certain people who do not really understand the importance of protecting children from traumatic experiences. In fact, some parents and guardians are abusive towards their children that their children become traumatized.

The trauma that children may suffer can rage from mild to severe depending on the physical, emotional and psychological treats that they have been subjected to. In most cases, symptoms of child abuse trauma are more severe in children who have been subjected to repeated abuse both physically and emotionally by members of their families. Experts believe that abuses committed by family members tend to have more painful effect of children because they feel betrayed by the very people that they trust and love.

Dealing With Victims Of Child Abuse

Different children manifest different symptoms of child abuse trauma. Some children who are suffering from trauma become withdrawn while others become aggressive and combative. Children who withdraw and become uncommunicative after an extraordinarily distressing event should not be left on their own. According to experts, withdrawal is one of the more severe symptoms of child abuse trauma and a number of children who become withdrawn after an extraordinarily stressful event often become depressed and suicidal.

Aside from withdrawal, anger is another symptom to watch out for among cases of child abuse trauma. Children who display a lot of anger after an extraordinarily stressful event should also be monitored closely. Most abused children who display anger tend to be self-destructive and some of them may even have the propensity to hurt others. However, according to many experts, just because some abused children tend to be aggressive towards their peers that does not mean that they should be isolated or restricted in their interaction with their peers.

Dealing with cases of child abuse trauma is not easy. One must always be very patient and considerate with the victims. We must always bear in mind that overcoming child abuse trauma does not happen overnight. It takes times before an abused child will learn to accept what happened to him or her and then move on with his or her life. When shown love and understanding, most children who are suffering from child abuse trauma recover more quickly. In fact, many of these children are able to lead normal lives after a few months of treatment.

What You Need To Know About Childhood Trauma

A lot of people go through life without really understanding why they respond violently to certain situations. Many of these people who have inexplicable reactions to certain situations suffer from many conflicting and strong emotions that they cannot control. According to experts, one of the causes of these conflicting and strong emotions is childhood trauma.

What Causes Childhood Trauma?

Childhood trauma has many causes but in most instances, extraordinarily stressful events that leave the child helpless and vulnerable often lead to trauma. For instance, a treat to the child's life can leave the child frightened and insecure for a long time. In most cases, the child who has been exposed to frightening situations replays the event in his or her head over and over again which often lead to violent nightmares. If left untreated, the child could be traumatized for life and will have difficulty living a normal life. Some children even become uncontrollably violent that they have to be institutionalized. Such situation can be very stressful both for these children and their parents.

Aside from treats to life, children are also very vulnerable to verbal abuses. According to experts, being exposed to repeated verbal abuse and intentionally cruel actions could lead to child abuse trauma. A lot of people are not really conscious of the fact that repeatedly telling their children that they are "dumb and up to no good" can emotionally and psychologically damage their children for life. This is really very sad because most verbal abuses happen at home and the perpetrators are usually the people whom these children love.

The effects of verbal abuse can be so deeply ingrained in the minds of children. Abused children often go through life feeling insecure and angry about a lot of things. In most causes, children who have been constantly verbally abused by the people that they love often suffer from severe childhood trauma that it becomes difficult for them to trust the people around them. If left untreated, children who are suffering from severe childhood trauma can become depressed and suicidal.

Helping A Child Overcome Trauma

Childhood trauma is a serious condition which needs professional treatment. Therapy can help the child overcome his or her negative emotions. Depending in the nature of the even which caused the childhood trauma and depending on the natural disposition and state of mind of the child, the length of treatment may vary. Some children recover fully after a few months of therapy while others need longer time to come to terms with what happened to them in the past. Fortunately, a loving and stress free environment can speed up the treatment process.

Trauma Nurse Practitioner

At present, there are dynamic changes taking place in politics as well as in technology and in communities as well as in hospitals – mainly because patient populations in the world are becoming more complex. In these changing scenarios, the role of the trauma nurse practitioner too has been evolving in order to keep pace with the times. The beginnings of the concept of trauma nurse practitioner can in fact be traced to the sixties; however, a lot of water has flown beneath the bridge since then and the scope of such practitioner’s role has had to also expand considerably.

No Clear Time Of Induction

However, the time when induction of trauma nurse practitioner began cannot be pinpointed; though, their use in trauma programs continues to grow. Today, virtually every trauma team is sure to include such practitioners and fortunately the general consensus (even with regard to The Society of Trauma Nurses) is that trauma nurse practitioners are more than able, willing and capable of meeting the challenges posed by trauma care.

To become a trauma nurse practitioner requires having entry level education of at least master’s level. In addition, such a practitioner must also complete didactic as well as clinical courses meant to impart advanced level of knowledge as well as clinical competency within the practitioner’s specialty.

Trauma nurse practitioner needs to practice according to the dictates of their individual State legislative and/or regulatory body. The standards for basic licensure are set out by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing or the NCSBN. However, there are also a few states that ask that a trauma nurse practitioner also gets a second license in addition to the registered nurse license that they already have.

Trauma nurse practitioners are however allowed to practice in an autonomous manner and also in collaboration with other health care professionals; especially, when it concerns diagnosing, treating and managing trauma patient health problems. It is the level of education that a trauma nurse practitioner has that ultimately helps determine how good the decision making skills of that practitioner are.

Another area where trauma nurses are called upon to act is when it concerns childhood trauma because sometimes the effects of such trauma can be especially severe and therefore require expert handling.

However, if you are concerned with working as trauma nurse practitioner you need not worry about your background or level of responsibility because this work is open to people from different backgrounds as well as job responsibilities. In fact, a trauma nurse practitioner can work with adults, families, pediatrics and also be Acute Care Certified.

Trauma Nursing Education

Trauma nursing is a career option that is worth taking seriously and in fact it is a profession that is quite in demand all over the world. It of course requires getting proper trauma nursing education and with a growing number of incidences involving accidents and other instances where people are traumatized, the need to learn about trauma nursing takes on added significance.

Annual Conferences

The goals of trauma nursing education are to teach would-be trauma nurses how to handle emergency cases. To further these goals you could try attending annual conferences where nurses interested in learning about trauma care will be taught through didactic as well as through workshop instruction about special areas of concern as related to proper trauma care.

You can also further your trauma nursing education through enrolling in Advanced Trauma Care for Nurses course that is an advanced course meant to educate registered nurses that wish to increase their knowledge about managing multiple trauma victims. This course is in fact being offered in a great many states in the US as well as internationally and is therefore worth considering.

Some of the subjects dwelt upon in continuing trauma nursing education include trauma outcomes as well as performance improvement. Some of these courses can even be completed in a day and are customized to suit those who wish to act as individual trauma caregivers and who have different levels of experience in providing trauma nursing.

You can also pursue continuing trauma nursing education; especially, if you are being sponsored by your hospital or employer. If you are in the state of California you can get this kind of trauma nursing education by getting in touch with The Society of Trauma Nurses.

For more information regarding trauma nursing education you should read the Journal of Trauma Nursing as well as several other publications that will provide you with insights about the importance of trauma nursing education for nurses and information about a lot of other relevant topics as well.

You can also try taking online trauma nursing education that will provide you with an overview of the proper care as well as management of trauma patients; even those suffering from Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome.

Today, there are much more complexities involved in trauma patient populations in the country and so, the role of trauma nurse practitioners in this dynamic scenario is continuously evolving. Trauma nursing education therefore requires that nurses be trained in various aspects of trauma care including understands the mechanism of injuries as well as proper means of assessing nursing requirements.

Trauma Nursing Certification

After completing trauma nursing certification, you should be able to find a job as a registered nurse in a hospital and even in emergency departments. The main function of a certified trauma nurse is to provide the right kind of care to patients that may be suffering from severe as well as serious wounds which often can even be life-threatening. Nurses that have completed trauma nursing certification will be in a better position to provide care to victims of automobile accidents, or who have suffered injuries at their workplace; or even to those who have attempted suicide.

Prevent Secondary Complications

Once you complete trauma nursing certification you will also be able to provide care to trauma patients that in turn will help prevent secondary complications including some that can lead to failure of the respiratory system, result in shock as well as even death. Completing trauma nursing certification will of course mean that you have become capable of providing care to patients during emergency situations, is able to administer emergency procedures, act fast as well as is able to think on your feet and to properly handle situations no matter how complex or difficult they may be.

Once you pass trauma nursing certification you can work as a trauma nurse who is entrusted with doing the initial assessment of a trauma patient and who also will deal with conditions that are life-threatening to the patient. In addition, you can find work on board helicopters; work in an ambulance as well as on airplanes to provide timely emergency care.

Trauma nursing basically requires finishing a Diploma course in Emergency/trauma nursing. Most of the times, the trauma nursing certification course can be completed in a year’s time in which there are two semesters. You should also need to learn how to handle as well as operate healthcare machines and have studied health care management, trauma nursing practice as well as know pharmacology and also know the law as well.

If you want to find a good trauma nursing certification course you can check out the Internet where there are numerous options available. Trauma nursing education can make you competent to perform specialized duties including taking care of victims of violence and those who have suffered severe injuries.

If you are serious about pursuing a career in trauma nursing you would have little option but to complete trauma nursing certification and know how to provide timely and specialized care to trauma victims; and, be competent to administer emergency procedures such as CPR and code blue.

Pediatric Trauma Nursing

Children need to be treated as more than just small adults and in fact, it is also necessary to understand the peculiar differences in a child’s anatomy as compared to that of an adult. Knowing what is right and what is wrong when treating children is an important ingredient of proper pediatric trauma nursing which in turn requires completing special courses. Such courses will teach you the best methods of caring for young children – especially, should the child become seriously injured – and when treatment requires having to race against time.

Thousands Of Wounded Children

Pediatric trauma nursing is especially most necessary in taking care of children that are very young. In fact, each day there are, it is believed, as many as over thirty-nine thousand young American children that hurt them badly and therefore require pediatric trauma nursing. Furthermore, in the year 2002 it was found that an estimated 6.8 million young children aged fourteen or less got them injured with as many as two hundred thousand of them being victims of domestic and other forms of violence.

Unfortunately, trauma happens to be the leading cause for deaths amongst children aged between one and fifteen. On the other hand, about eleven hundred children are able to survive thanks to their receiving proper and timely pediatric trauma nursing. As a matter of fact, pediatric trauma nursing requires doing more than simply providing rapid treatment as it also requires having an understanding of the child’s special anatomical makeup as well as their physiological peculiarities that in turn will make trauma nurses act in the most appropriate manner.

Pediatric trauma nursing revolves around certain areas of which the airway and breathing and circulation play an important role. It means needing to check the child’s airway to ensure that it (airway) remains unobstructed and that there are also no broken teeth that can cause obstruction in the airway. In addition, proper pediatric trauma nursing also requires that the trauma nurse assesses the color of the child, breathing pattern as well as rate of respiration. Sometimes, it even becomes necessary to immobilize the child’s cervical spine till it is established that there is no injury to the cervical spine.

It is also necessary to learn how trauma nursing certification can help you advance in the field of trauma nursing. At the very least, such certification can help to get you a job in a hospital or even in independent emergency departments.

For those who are used to providing care to children, handling cases of pediatric trauma cases can prove to be very difficult. It is then necessary that you need to contact someone that is accomplished in pediatric trauma nursing so that the proper type of care can be given.

Trauma Nurse Specialist

The life of a trauma nurse specialist is sure to be exciting, tension-filled, exhausting – but, in the end very rewarding. Given the special requirements of this kind of work, hospital administrators too are looking to find ways and means by which to ensure that a trauma nurse specialist has the very highest level of competency and can handle trauma-stricken patients with aplomb.

Shortage Of Good Nurses

However, there is at present a shortage of good trauma nurse specialists and given the extreme amount of stress and pressure that a trauma nurse specialist has to work under; it is hardly surprising to learn that much needs to be done to improve the lot and numbers of such nurses.

Basically, a trauma nurse specialist must be a person who is an expert in handling different kinds of trauma instances; she must be able to coordinate all of the several different kinds of services required to take good care of a trauma patient, and in addition, should also have the skills and tact to deal adequately with family members as well as other team members of the trauma nursing team.

There is a lot of course material that needs to be studied in order to pass the trauma nurse specialist certification course and it includes studying subjects such as EMS/trauma systems development, legal considerations as well as trauma management and cardiac anatomy as well as physiology.

Trauma nurse specialist should also be able to handle trauma cases, especially those that deal with injuries to the head, spine and neck and so, it is necessary to study subjects such as traumatic brain injuries, ocular as well as oral maxillofacial trauma and spinal cord injuries in detail.

Other specialties that need to be mastered include those that relate to torso and extremity trauma and which includes subjects such as abdominal trauma, genitourinary trauma (GU), musculoskeletal vascular and soft tissue trauma, thoracic trauma and zonal injuries of the patient’s neck. In addition, there is need to study thermal trauma with special emphasis on topics such as burns, and cold injuries.

Another interesting career option is to train as a pediatric trauma nursing professional. This is a profession that can be very challenging and rewarding and must be entered into only if you are confident that you can satisfactorily provide specialized kind of care that such a discipline demands.

For those who wish to train to become a trauma nurse specialist there is also need to understand how trauma occurs amongst children, older adults as well as during pregnancy. Finally, a trauma nurse specialist must also be sure about how to act when there are instances of family violence, and to handle organ as well as tissue transplants; finally, they should know stabilization as well as transfer of patients.

Trauma Nurse Core Course

Trauma has become a major cause for concern – both on the national as well as international stage and there is enough data available to back this conclusion. In fact, injuries are believed to be the main cause of death in people aged less than forty-five years. All this leads one to conclude that trauma care is an urgent requirement that demands adequate numbers of qualified trauma nurses that have successfully completed a course such as a trauma nurse core course.

Framework Of Rules

Once a nurse has completed a trauma nurse core course she can provide optimal care to patients suffering from trauma as they will have a framework of rules within which to function and within which the other team members will also be working. The benefits of completing a trauma nurse core course are many as such a course will lead to systemization, and standardization as far as providing proper care to the injured patient is concerned.

There is a pressing need today for emergency nurses to make up a trauma team. The sad truth is that mortality and morbidity amongst trauma patients is high and can only be reduced through the education of nurses to provide the right kind of trauma care. Organizations such as the Emergency Nurses Association provide nurses with opportunity to complete a trauma nurse core course.

Once certified, and after having completed a trauma nurse core course trauma, nurses will be able to facilitate proper trauma care and furthermore, take advantage of further educational opportunities that will in turn further their capabilities of providing the best trauma care to patients suffering from trauma.

The purpose of a trauma nurse core course is to inculcate discipline into the trauma nurse and to also teach them how to properly perform a variety of key roles. Knowledge is the king of any kind of discipline and a trauma nurse core course too ensures that the nurse has the required level of knowledge, is skilled as well as has a strong foundation on which to build a career in trauma nursing.

Some of the available trauma nurse core courses are short in duration and can be completed in sixteen to twenty hours and are designed to impart to the learner cognitive knowledge as well as psychomotor skills. In fact, such a course suits nurses who are planning on working in limited emergency nursing clinics or who will have limited exposure to handling trauma patients.

Nurses can also pass the Trauma Nurse Specialist Course Coordinators Certification and thereby gain sufficient knowledge to learn about professional issues, general assessment, management as well as pathophysiology and more. Though there is no standard cost in regard to taking a trauma nurse core course; the costs are not so much that you cannot afford to enroll in such courses.

A Few Pertinent Facts Related To Trauma Nursing

Trauma nursing requires that a nurse have the ability to respond in shortest possible time to a wide range of trauma cases including single as well as multi-system traumas that can affect patients of different ages, as well as cultures and even who have different symptoms. In addition, trauma nursing requires that nurse be able to act in a decisive manner and be clear in her mind about how to assess, intervene as well as stabilize trauma patients – even when there is little information available about the trauma that the patients is suffering from.

Inpatient Settings

Typically, trauma nursing takes place in an inpatient setting where need to provide critical care is paramount and the patients too can be of any age group. Other than this, trauma nursing also requires the nurse to be able to properly diagnose emergent conditions that include important multi-system trauma as well as shock from driving accidents, drowning as well as poisoning; and any other form of medical emergency.

Trauma nursing also involves being able to enact key roles that include clinical functions in which various positions are open including those of a staff nurse, clinical nurse specialist and also flight nurse. The management roles include becoming nursing managers, coordinators and supervisors. Nurses can even rise to the position of director administration or become nursing educators or even research nurses.

In addition, trauma nursing involves certain characteristics such as having autonomy and independence, performing various kinds of duties and meeting with a wide variety of challenges. There is also need to be good at maintaining the right kind of patient relationships and be able to work in a team as well as have the capability to think innovatively.

The main challenges involved in trauma nursing include dealing with stress and conflict; acting under high pressure and handling the grief of patients as well as their families. Sometimes, trauma nursing also involves maintaining short-term patient relationship and understanding different languages as well as overcoming barriers of foreign cultures.

Essential skills required for performing trauma nursing including handling medical and surgical tasks, dealing with emergencies and being adept at critical-care; handling ventilators as well as cardiac monitoring are other essential skills.

All these skills can be honed by taking a trauma nurse core course or becoming certified with Board of Certification Emergency Nurses certificate. For more information on trauma nursing and certificate courses you can consult publications such as Journal of Emergency Nursing and International Journal of Trauma nursing.

Head Trauma Rehabilitation

Head trauma rehabilitation is a very important as well as critical aspect to helping a head trauma patient recover from their injuries. In fact, head trauma rehabilitation, during a period known as acute stage, will require providing close medical attention and perhaps even giving care in the intensive unit of a medical facility. Once the patient’s condition shows signs of stabilizing it are then time to move the patient out of the intensive care unit and into a neurological ward.

Different Stages

The second stage in head trauma rehabilitation usually involves the patient being admitted into a sub-acute unit in the medical facility and then on to a long-term facility where acute care can be given. The final stage of head trauma rehabilitation is generally performed in an inpatient unit where rehabilitation care is provided; usually in the confines of the acute trauma center, or sometimes, in an independent and perhaps free standing hospital that has proper rehabilitation facilities.

It is advisable that patients undergoing head trauma rehabilitation do so in a facility where there is better than average facilities to provide rehabilitation from brain injuries. When deciding on the place and time where a head trauma patient should be sent for head trauma rehabilitation; it is necessary to take into account the severity of the injuries as well as the process of rehabilitation.

Persons suffering from moderate or severe head trauma will require more sophisticated head trauma rehabilitation and it would in fact, even mean being taken care of by specialists and also requires use of very complex treatment programs including areas such as occupational therapy, physical therapy as well as speech and language therapy; amongst others.

The main purpose of head trauma rehabilitation is to help a patient recover their abilities to function unaided – both in the home as well as in society – even despite whatever residual effects from the injury there may be lingering on. It is only after the patient gets discharged from head trauma rehabilitation treatment centers that he or she can begin out-patient care to begin.

Once the patient starts to undergo out-patient care the focus of head trauma rehabilitation will then shift to providing assistance to the patient so that they can perform daily routines. In addition, it also means needing to assess the broader as well as psycho-social issues such as those that are related to long-term adjusting and integrating with the local community.

Trauma nursing is another issue that needs to be understood and it in fact, basically involves understanding all of the different aspects that nurses must be acquainted with in order to provide suitable care for patients suffering from traumas.

Lastly, head trauma rehabilitation also requires understanding the importance of developing programs that will help to prevent as well as diagnose and also treat future complications – as and when they might arise.

Impossible To Predict How Long It Takes To Recover From Severe Head Trauma

The treatment of patients suffering from severe head trauma will take a long time – in most cases, at least. The recovery from severe head trauma can also take a long time and it is left up to the medical professionals dealing with the patient to satisfy them that the patient is in fact in a position to breathe freely and is in fact, in a good enough position to take care of their own health without requiring being on a ventilator; only then can the patient be left to fend for them.

The time taken to recover from severe head trauma can last a few days, or in some cases, it could take longer. It is up to doctors to decide when the patient should be released from the intensive care unit and when the tube inserted into the patient’s lungs can be removed. Of course, upon leaving the intensive care unit, a patient with severe head trauma will then need to be treated further in a neurological ward.

Further Treatment In A Neurological Ward

Patients of severe head trauma may even require having to spend some time in the neurological ward; in some instances, the patient may even be transferred to a hospital or even to a center for rehabilitation for severe head trauma patients. Once a patient is allowed out of the intensive care unit he or she and also their family and friends will find life a lot easier to bear and family visits will also be permitted.

However, it is impossible to predict just how much time is required for a patient to recover completely from severe head trauma; it all depends on how severe were the injuries. In most cases, a neurosurgeon will be able to give an estimated timeframe; but, exactly how long it will take is still impossible to predict.

Generally, a patient of severe head trauma will require spending months before recovery is complete; the severity of the injury and degree of the recovery period are what will decide the time required to complete the recovery process. It is also possible that the recovery will take years to complete; the fortunate, of course (such as young patients,) may even be able to recover in a few months.

During the time that a patient is recovering from severe head trauma they will more often than not start to behave just like children do when they are developing into young adults. Uncommunicativeness, inappropriate behavior as well as baby-like acts are commonly noticed amongst patients undergoing recovery from severe head trauma.

The sad truth about head trauma rehabilitation is that in case there is also brain damage, a patient won’t be able to recover too quickly. Nevertheless, by following a few recommended steps it is still possible to prevent any further damage and this in fact, is the only silver lining on a dark cloud.

Head Trauma Symptom, When Noticed, Must Be Taken Very Seriously

The severity of head trauma symptoms depends to a great deal on the extent of injury and therefore they can vary from mild to moderate to very severe. In fact, certain head trauma symptoms will be noticed immediately following an injury while others become noticeable only a few days or even weeks after the injury.

Immediately Noticeable

In case the head trauma symptom occurs immediately they will become apparent seconds or even minutes following the head injury and manifests them in the form of losing consciousness, experiencing difficulties in paying attention and not being able to respond properly to commands and speech too may become incoherent. In addition, other common head trauma symptoms include headaches as well as confusion and there is also sure to be disorientation as well as bad coordination.

There are other and different head trauma symptoms that often will appear a few hours after the injury or even days and weeks following the injury. When such symptoms come to your notice it is necessary that you seek medical advice.

Head trauma symptoms are known to cause a considerable deterioration in the health of the patient though they can also stabilize. In case of concussion, the patient may suffer from unconsciousness and disturbed vision as well as loss of equilibrium. Coma is another common head trauma symptom and so too are confusion, personality changes, drowsiness, nausea, seizure and vomiting.

In case the head trauma has caused fracture to the skull certain other head trauma symptoms will be noticed including leakage of cerebrospinal fluids, deformity (visible) and/or depressions in the face or head, immobility in eyes as well as signs of wounds and bruises on the face or scalp.

Head trauma symptoms should be treated with gravity because even if the injuries are superficial they can still (when they have caused damage to the brain) lead to many life threatening consequences and this in turn will require getting close medical attention. Even caregivers that are treating patients with head trauma symptoms must ensure closely monitoring their parents; frequently rousing the patient in a span of twelve to twenty-four hours to assess whether the symptoms have stabilized or worsened.

Severe head trauma can cause damage to the brain and such damage can be caused by penetrating head injuries or by close head injuries. No matter; when head trauma symptoms occur they need to be treated immediately; otherwise the consequences are not what you would want to face and in some instances, can even lead to death.

Traumatic Head Injury: A Problem Of Immense Magnitude

There is a great risk that traumatic head injury can and does lead to damaging of the delicate brain tissue and even if such damage is not actually visible; traumatic head injury can lead to serious consequences as well as results in alteration of the lives of those affected by the condition. There are many different brain damage symptoms and these will vary according to the type as well as extent of the injuries. However, traumatic head injury is mostly a result of having met with an automobile accident; or because of falls and even due to firearms.

Penetrating Head Injuries Or Close Head Injuries

Traumatic head injury is of two types: the first type is the one known as penetrating head injuries; while the second type is known as closed head injuries. The first type of traumatic head injury is usually an open wound that is also visible as well as is a result of penetration into the skull as well as brain tissue. The second type of traumatic head injury is the one that is very common and it is known to vary considerably as far as its severity is concerned and is typically no worse than minor concussions.

A worrying aspect to traumatic head injury is that often the symptoms of such a condition are not immediately noticeable or apparent. The only way that a person may suspect that symptoms have developed is when he or she suffers from unconsciousness at the site of the accident; or, goes into a coma or starts to suffer seizures. It is therefore imperative that immediate medical help be provided to anyone that has suffered from serious head injuries so that the traumatic head injury can be contained and properly managed.

Common symptoms of traumatic head injury include suffering from headaches, being confused, feeling nauseous as well as having problems concentrating as to having difficulties in being able to remember things properly. The patient may even begin to notice changes to their personalities and can become angry, irritable as well as perhaps even becomes depressed. Unless head trauma symptoms are recognized and treated in time they could lead to very severe consequences.

Unfortunately, traumatic head injury is a problem of immense magnitude and going by what the Brain Injury Association says; almost two million Americans suffer from such a condition on a yearly basis with about eighty thousand cases resulting in long-term disabilities.

Pediatric Head Trauma: A Big Challenge For Doctors

Pediatric head trauma is a very serious issue – mainly because it accounts for much mortality as well as morbidity amongst children and in fact, as many as a tenth of all children are known to have sustained significant injuries to their heads during their formative years. It is thus a big challenge facing doctors who need to identify children suffering from pediatric head trauma so that their (the children’s) condition can be managed in a more specialized manner.

Induces Death Or Disability

It is important that doctors are able to treat pediatric head trauma in time – perhaps through use of resuscitation as well as by recognizing the condition, and also through affecting timely management of any post traumatic complications (neurological) that might otherwise even lead to death or disability among children suffering from pediatric head trauma. The basic mechanism of head injuries in children will vary according to the age of the child. In the case of neonates there is greater risk of linear fractures to the skull due to the passage of the head through birth canal or even due to use of delivery forceps.

Other common reasons why pediatric head trauma cases occur include falls from beds as well as from changing tables; serious injuries to the head can also lead to premature death of the child. Pediatric head trauma cases are also commonly ascribed to children being involved in automobile accidents; especially if the child is walking or cycling and he or she is struck by another vehicle. In their adolescent years, these children are frequently the drivers and they are therefore more likely to suffer from severe injuries to the head.

Doctors need to be able to properly assess cases of pediatric head trauma and they will most often begin by evaluating the child’s ABC or, airway; breathing and finally, circulation. Another step that doctors need to take when assessing cases of pediatric head trauma is to make a neurological examination along the lines of the Glasgow Coma Scale score and to also do their best to determine papillary reaction to light as well as extraocular movements.

The treatment of pediatric head trauma can be divided into categories which are low risk injuries as well as high risk injuries. Traumatic head injuries, both in children and also in adults, is another major cause for concern as there is great risk that such injuries can lead to brain damage and further serious consequences.

When assessing cases of pediatric head trauma the age of the child will play an important role in making of the prognosis though fortunately, children are actually able to deal with their head trauma a lot better than can adults.

Know What Head Trauma Is And Who It Affects The Most

Head trauma continues to be a subject that is giving rise to enormous amount of concern - even in spite of much advancement taking place in medicinal sciences in this twenty-first century. Of course, the majority of cases of such form of trauma (amounting to an estimated seventy-five to eighty percent) relate to those who have suffered minor injuries to the head; however, the remaining twenty odd percent of head trauma cases refer to injuries that range from moderate to quite severe.

High Cost

Society today is paying a high cost because of head trauma cases – both from an economic perspective as well as from an economic point of view. The sad truth is that every person that has suffered severe head trauma is going to find them being disabled for life; in cases of moderate head trauma instances, about two thirds of these cases also end up causing permanent disabilities for the concerned persons.

The US economy has to suffer on account of such forms of head trauma and it is paying a huge cost in paying for the care of patients suffering from such form of trauma, which, with the exception of inpatient care, means that the total cost is going to be in the region of over twenty-five billion dollars per year. What is even more alarming is the fact that most of the affected head trauma patients happen to be young people as well as adolescents.

In the US, head trauma cases occur at a frequency of about one hundred and eighty to two hundred and twenty cases per one hundred thousand people and with the total US population amounting to an estimated three hundred million people, it is expected that there would be about six hundred thousand new head trauma patients each year of which an estimated ten percent injuries lead to death.

The most common causes of head trauma seems to be automobile accidents, falls, and sports inflicted injuries, assaults as well as penetrating trauma. However, automobile accidents account for an estimated fifty percent of all US head injury cases and many of these accidents occur in suburban as well as rural settings. In US cities that have populations in excess of one hundred thousand people falls, assaults as well as sports inflicted injuries are the most common reasons for suffering from head trauma.

It is also necessary to learn about how to properly manage instances of pediatric head trauma because head injuries in children are a most serious cause for their mortality and morbidity. Head injury cases in fact, occur twice as much in the case of males as compared to females and such form of trauma is most common amongst people that are in their early thirties.

Trauma: It’s A Wolf Taking Over Your Being In The Garb Of Sheep’s Clothing

Trauma can best be likened to a wolf that exists in your heart and mind in the garb of sheep’s clothing. Much like in Aesop’s fable, the wolf, when it cannot get at the sheep that were being guarded by a shepherd and his dogs, decided upon coming across a discarded sheep’s skin, to don this new clothing and so was able to give the shepherd and his dogs the slip and could easily mingle with the sheep.

Appearances Can Be Deceptive

This made one of the lambs follow the wolf whom the latter soon devoured for his next meal and in doing so, found a simple way of deceiving the sheep, the shepherd and the dogs. Appearances can certainly be deceptive and the same is applicable for us humans. Often we are under the impression that we know the cause of things that make us struggle and in many instances these causes can even be very obvious to us. However, the truth of the fact is that we are, in many cases, unable to truly find out what is bothering us.

Trauma is one such thing and it is certainly very much like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. You may feel quite confident and show this to the outside world; however, inside, you may be experiencing pain as well as be consciously as well as unconsciously hiding something – more often than not it is trauma.

Trauma is something that is seldom kind to you and it certainly is not tame and it can end up haunting you – often, without your even being aware of it because it is hidden beneath behaviors that are best described as addictive and these behaviors, like the wolf in sheep’s clothing, can take on a very different form to what they really are.

Trauma is often caused by abuses – both physical as well as sexual - and it can cause a person to behave much like an addict does. The conscious mind has to struggle to ascertain the true reason why a person starts to behave like an addict. In fact, addictive behavior is often a means to cover up the pain caused by trauma and this behavior can be motivated - both consciously as well as unconsciously.

For those who have or are suffering from head trauma it will pay to get a second opinion as this second opinion can help in saving your life as well as help you regain your independence. Otherwise, trauma, when left to its own devices, will overpower you with pain and will prevent you from overcoming your addictive behavior. In addition, it will certainly not allow you to live life normally and you will also not be able to maintain a healthy perspective on life.