Search

Objective Sports and recreation promotes health benefits to the child's wellbeing but can also expose him or her to injury risks. Literature that explores sporting injuries amongst children in Australia with discussions about the paediatric nursing role is reviewed. Setting Prevalence of sporting injuries within the Australian paediatric population. Sample The search utilized medical search terms of 'Sporting injuries' 'Children' 'Pediatric/paediatric Nurses' in health related databases to locate literature published from 2007 until present. Australian based studies were preferable but not exclusive. Relevant sources through hand selection helped to develop a potential relationship between the frequency of sports injuries occurrences and the types of injuries being treated in hospital. Primary argument Of the twenty-five papers chosen, nineteen were related to sports injuries while a further thirteen focussed specifically on children involved in sports and recreation. Data concerning children sustaining sports related injuries, particularly in Australia, is scarce and inconsistent with no literature found relating to the role of paediatric nurses. With a particular focus on spinal injuries sustained through sports and recreation, how the paediatric nurse is involved is identified. Conclusion Further analysis on sporting injuries in children in Australia will help to gauge its health burden to the country to better understand this contemporary child safety concern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]