subject: 6 Tips to Help Calm the Parents of an Injured Child [print this page] As long as there are children there will be plenty of bumps and bruises. Even at school it is impossible for teachers to keep students completely out of harm's way. They might get hurt during recess on the monkey bars or from a fall while playing kickball during gym class. Whenever there is any kind of injury, it is necessary to notify the child's parents that they are injured. The following seven tips can help you keep parents calm, even after an injury.
When you work with children the first rule of thumb is to always be prepared for an injury or accident before it occurs. It's a good idea to keep your class contact list with you wherever you go. That way if something happens while you are out of the building or on a field trip, you have immediate access to the child's parents' numbers. Always make sure your emergency contact information for each child is up to date.
When you take the children out for recess, use teacher lanyards for keeping contact information. You can keep a full roster with home phone and cell phone numbers on it and tuck it inside the clear badge for safe keeping. This way, you can make phone calls from the nearest phone without needing to rush to the class or school office to get the information you need.
When you get one of the parents on the phone, make sure you speak calmly and softly. Reassure them that there are no major injuries if the accident was a minor one. Let them know their child will be okay, and describe what happened to cause the injury. Also be sure to let them know what you or the school nurse has done to treat the problem. Then ask them if they have any questions or concerns and if there is anything else you should know when treating the child.
If you read a school nursing blog, you will be encouraged to give the parents clear steps for what needs to be done next. For some cases, you need only notify the parents what to expect. In other cases it might be necessary to have a parent or a babysitter pick up the child from school early. Prepare them for what they will find when they pick up their child. Bruises can look really bad, but they look even worse if the parents are not expecting to see one.
Never lie or pretend that an injury is not severe if it is. In the event of a very serious accident, give the parents as much additional information as you can. You might want to let the school nurse talk to the parents, as she will be more qualified to talk about the nature of the injuries and the treatment that was used. Let the parents know the best place and time to pick up their injured child.
It might be very helpful if you can let the child speak to his or her parents on the phone. Both of them will feel better about it. A simple conversation can be very reassuring. Children are more likely to react negatively to an accident when they know that their parents are not available.
6 Tips to Help Calm the Parents of an Injured Child
By: Adam Anderson
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