Middle school phys ed class injuries

Hi., I am a new member and a school nurse in a middle school of 800 students. I have alot of serious injuries that occur in our physical ed classes. For example, concussions, fractured nose, broken bones and sprains. Is this common for middle school to see such serious injuries in a phys ed class? Many kids miss school because of their injuries. What are some of your experiences? Thanks.

[bergren]

That does not sound normal based on my experience in 3 middle schools.

Put together a report of the number, seriousness of injuries, number of days missed, etc. See if you can see a pattern. I would not suggest sending in an email. Make an appointment to share the report and talk to the principal about the concerns.

There was a study published a few months ago about an increase in pe injuries that end up in the ER.

For an intervention:

Effectiveness of a School-Based Physical Activity Injury Prevention Program: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial.

Dorine C. M. Collard, MSc; Evert A. L. M. Verhagen, PhD; Mai J. M. Chinapaw, PhD; Dirk L. Knol, PhD; Willem van Mechelen, MD, PhD

Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010;164(2):145-150

http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/164/2/145

[Monotreme]

Thanks for your reply and the article link. I will have to go to the principal .

Monotreme

[SchoolNurseBSN]

I was a middle school nurse for several years. I saw a lot of minor stuff from PE. However, I wonder if what you are seeing is a lack of supervision / structured activities?

I visit one elementary school and all day long, the PE teacher sends dozens of students. Turns out, most of the time they just run amok of their own accord and he has very few planned and structured activities.

[LovebugLPN]

You might also want to find out what kinds of sports they are playing when this happens and who is really supervising. I witnessed a few special needs children being injured when I walked into a gym class run by aides playing dodge ball with them. The gym teacher was nowhere to be found.

[mustlovepoodles, RN]

I worked in a middle school for 2 years and saw a lot of moderate to serious injuries. The classes were very large, 50-70 kids, and mostly they played soccer, basketball and flag football. Never had anyone injured doing aerobics or relay races. I tried to impress on the coaches the need for these kids to develop personal fitness routines, not just team sports. But to no avail.

and not only did they get hurt in PE, they used to beat the crap out of each other daily. You can't imagine! Broken arms, broken jaws, separated shoulder, dislocated kneecap, dislocated shoulder, teeth knocked out, concussions, lacerations. These kids would go at it like their life was at stake. And their parents encouraged it! All about their honor, you know. Bunch of juvenile delinquents....