Establishing Evidence based Evaluation plan quantitavely and qualitatively on Returning
soldiers to duty after sustaining a Mild Traumatic Brain Injury. This evaluation plan must
answer the following: Identify methods to evaluate a proposed solution, describe varaibles
to be assessed when evaluating project outcomes, develop tools necessary to educate project
participants, meaning Soldiers that have sustained a Mild traumatic Brain Injury, to
evaluate project outcomes, summarize plans for dissemination significance of project
outcomes to greater nursing community. 6th addition APA format
Mild Traumatic Brain Injury also known as Concussion
Mild traumatic brain injury also called concussion is a traumatically induced injury or
physiological disruption that affects brain function as a result of exposure to an external force
(Guest Editorial, 2012). This condition has potential effect on function and communication of
those people affected. It causes lapses in sustained attention, decreased concentration; it slows
the processing speed of information and impairs memory which leads to problems of new
learning. Most service members are often affected with this condition (Guest Editorial 2012).
This paper delineates on evidence based evaluation plan on return soldiers to duty after
sustaining a mild traumatic brain injury.
Return to duty for soldiers is based on the severity of the injury and the history of the
patient in regards mild traumatic brain injury. The widely used evidence based evidence is the
American association of neurological surgeons (AANS) and Cantu. These methods take into
consideration the injury severity and the nature and duration of key characteristics of the injury.
Mild traumatic brain injury is graded as I mild; II moderate and III sever (The Management of
Concussion/mTBI Working Group (2009). AAN emphasis the qualitative importance of loss of
consciousnesses while Cantu guidelines helps to distinguish between brief and extended loss of
consciousness as well as drawing attention to the posttraumatic amnesia. A soldier found to be
graded in Grade I as per Cantu guidelines may return to his duty in case symptoms are not seen
MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ALSO KNOWN AS CONCUSSION 2
for a week. Grade II means that they loss their consciousness after five minutes are also
recommended to go to their work. Those in Grade III experience posttraumatic amnesia for
more than 24 hours hence are not allowed to return to their duties until duration of one month
(The Management of Concussion/mTBI Working Group (2009).
Various variables are used to assess the project outcome, that is, whether the symptoms
of mild traumatic brain injury have been suppressed or not. The variables to be assessed include
the history of concussion and the severity of the injury. When the soldier has experienced this
condition, it may take quite some time for them to go back to their duties. Likewise, the
sovereignty of the injury may also delayed return to work of such soldiers. They may not be able
to gain their consciousness quickly and may also exhibit posttraumatic amnesia that may make
them unsuitable to perform their tasks. One of the tools is the speech language pathologists’
clinical managed guidance used in cognitive communication interventions for soldiers and
veterans that have a history of concussion and mTBI. This tool is appropriate for soldiers aged
18 years old and who have a history of concussion, are more than three-month in post injury with
problems or symptoms of persistence cognitive communication (Guest Editorial 2012).
Education is also another tool that can be used to help manage this problem especially when it is
at its earliest stages, that is, between 7 days and 3 months post injury.
Soldiers that have sustained a mild traumatic brain injury should be put under good care
to enable them recover. There are various tools necessary to educate such soldiers on how to
manage their symptoms (Guest Editorial 2012). Tools for evaluating project outcomes include;
exertional testing which includes stressing the body. This target will help to evaluate whether the
soldier is fit to resume to his/her work or not.
MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ALSO KNOWN AS CONCUSSION 3
Project outcomes are essential to the field of nursing. These evidence based methods of
evaluating return to work help researchers to come up with reliable ways that can help or
promote quick recovery. Therefore, once positive findings have been ascertained, they should be
shared with the nurses to ensure that they are adopted in the various healthcare services. They
can also be disseminated through nurse’s participation. This makes them to get the knowledge
about how these interventions perform hence helping them to promote proper intervention
measures and enhances the quality of life.
MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY ALSO KNOWN AS CONCUSSION 4
References
Guest Editorial. (2012). Cognitive-communication rehabilitation for combat-related mild
traumatic brain injury, Journal of Rehabilitation Research & Development, 49(7): 1-22.
The Management of Concussion/mTBI Working Group (2009). VA/DoD Evidence Based
Practice: Management of concussion/mild traumatic brain injury.