Pediatric Nurses: On The Front Lines In Dealing With Child Abuse

child on slide — A major goal of forensic nurses is to provide care for children in a timely manner, in a child-friendly atmosphere.
(Vital Record)

In 2014, more than 65,000 reports of child abuse were filed with Texas Child Protective Services (CPS).

This comes as no surprise to Kathryn Sanders, a clinical assistant professor of nursing at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Nursing.

From the day she started working as a pediatric nurse 20 years ago, Sanders says she was regularly confronted with cases of child abuse, either in the form of physical abuse, or neglect, which can include not providing children with the food or medications they need.

“One of the worst cases I ever saw was an infant who had been crawling on the floor and put something in his mouth,” Sanders recalls. “It turned out to be his mother’s crack cocaine.”

Whether they are working in hospital emergency rooms or serving as school nurses, nurses are often on the front lines of dealing with child abuse. Sanders has filed reports with CPS, talked to investigators during the course of their investigations, and even testified in court when charges were brought against the parents.

Part of Sanders’ job now as a faculty member at the Texas A&M College of Nursing is to train future nurses how to recognize the signs and symptoms of child abuse, which can often be very subtle. Clues that there might be abuse going on include children who regularly have headaches or stomach aches caused by stress, children who display bruises in uncommon sites and children who become more withdrawn when a certain person comes into the room.

“Early identification is where nurses can really make a difference and hopefully get some early interventions to the family,” Sanders says.

But Sanders says nurses who deal with child abuse on a daily basis – such as those who work in pediatric hospitals – should have additional training on top of what they receive during their pediatric rotation in nursing school.

“These nurses really need a lot more understanding of the forensic side of child abuse,” she says.