playground safety

[cruzcontrol]

fairly new elementary school nurse and I would like to put together a memo/request for school staff since I've noticed that our pk/kinder kids have alot of falls on the playground when they are on the jungle gym/monkey bars. Since they don't have the dexterity to keep holding on and the metal is hot here in Texas ! Teacher's are not always vigilant with all those little ones. Long story short: I'd like to prevent unnecessary injuries. Does anyone have protocols to share or advice?

[schooldistrictnurse]

Nothing to share except this is a good idea!

[Flare, ASN, BSN]

I agree - we don't really have anything in place. Perhaps we could all start a "group project" to make up guidelines on playground safety procedures...

[KJRN79]

Love this suggestion! I'm a nurse in a daycare/ PreK, and my first few years here we had kids with broken arms/ collar bones from falls from the equipment. I figured that there has to be a better way and I became a Certified Playground Safety Inspector through the National Parks and Recreation Association. The primary thing that I learned was that our PreK playgrounds were DESIGNED for children ages 2-12. How many 2 year olds can play safely on equipment that 12 years olds want to play on? Very few. Since I learned this I have put together trainings for our teachers. I show the difference via slides with activities for 2-4 year olds and what is expected that a 10-12 year old can safely do. One of the primary things in the littler kids is their upper body strength. We should not expect littler kids to have the strength to negotiate monkey bars for instance. If you want, contact me directly and I'll see what I have to share. Also, check out the "Dirty Dozen" playground hazards. You can probably google it.

Good luck!

[tweetyRN]

Great idea. I sub in an elementary school and a student fell off a few months ago and had broken her collar bone.

[SouthernSweetheart16]

Can you send me what you have, KJRN79? That sounds interesting!