1 in 6 Injured Children Suffers Severe and Persistent Traumatic Stress | Patient Centered Care and Trauma Informed Care for Pediatric Patients - HEALTHCARE TOOLBOX

Pediatric Medical Traumatic Stress

An injury, no matter how severe, can be traumatic for children and families. In the days following an injury, many children (and parents) might be jumpy, fearful, or anxious. These traumatic stress reactions should subside, however, for 1 in 6 children they remain severe and persistent.

An injury, no matter how severe, can be traumatic for children and families. In the days following an injury, many children (and parents) might be jumpy, fearful, or anxious. These traumatic stress reactions should subside, however, for 1 in 6 children they remain severe and persistent. In fact these traumatic stress reactions could interfere with the child's recovery. Traumatic stress reactions include symptoms of re-experiencing,avoidance, and hyper-arousal, such as:

Having unwanted and intrusive thoughts about what happened
Strongly avoiding things that are reminders of the event
Having trouble sleeping, eating, or concentrating

As a pediatric health care provider, if you notice your patient or their family still experiencing traumatic stress reactions over a month after the injury, you should assess the child and parent(s) for post traumatic stress disorder.