Reflection Hours: #3 -- Child Abuse

Today we talked about child and sexual abuse, and our duties as future nurses to patients who approach us with these problems. We talked about the signs of child abuse, as defined by the ATI book of Community Health Nursing: physical evidence of abuse; conflicting stories about the "accident" or injury from parents or others; inappropriate response of caregiver: exaggerated or absent emotional response; refusal to sign for additional test or treatment, etc.

According to our ATI book, one million children are abused each year, and these numbers are expected to increase. Abusive caregivers usually single out only one child to abuse, and the long-term effects on the child's mental, intellectual, social, physical and sexual health are detrimental. Sexual abuse often involves a person known to the child and is often incestuous in nature.

Several people in class today talked about their experiences with children and child abuse. "J", a male nursing student in our class, has been having trouble finding a community health site that accepts him. He talked about his experiences with KidCo, how he didn't want to help a male child use the bathroom for fear of being labeled a sex offender. Unfortunately, the actions of others in our community that commit these crimes makes it difficult for men who legitimately want to help children, especially in nursing. "J" also talked about the BACA group (see image above), or Bikers Against Child Abuse. He finally found a group he identifies with that also protects children from individuals who would harm them.

Today's vocabulary word: Primary Prevention. Primary Prevention is the prevention of the initial occurrence of disease or injury. Primary prevention is directed toward well people. As faras preventing child abuse, we need to equip parents with information on support networks for parents who are overwhelmed with the responsibility with raising children, among other things. In Florida, the Department of Children and Families has a child abuse prevention plan that has been implement for the years 2005 to 2010.

Overall, this experience was helpfuil in providing us the tools with helping the most vulnerable in our society.