King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia; Faculty of Nursing, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt.
Chair, Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) Committee, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
East Mediterr Health J. 2019 Aug 19;25(6):413-421. doi: 10.26719/emhj.18.055.
Child maltreatment is considered a global problem that has serious consequences for a victim's physical and mental well-being. Nurses interact with children and their families at different levels of health care. All nurses must be able to identify children who are at risk of harm or abuse, and act accordingly.
The purpose of the study was to investigate barriers that inhibit reporting suspected cases of child abuse and neglect by nurses at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
The study was conducted at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. One hundred and forty-five nurses from all paediatric settings participated in the study using non-probability "convenience" sampling technique and a descriptive design was used. A structured self-report data collection method was applied to elicit data about the participants' knowledge and circumstances that prevent them from reporting child abuse.
It was found that only one fifth (20.7%) of nurses had attended either a lecture or workshop on child abuse and neglect (CAN). Two fifths (40.7%) of participants had a knowledge score on CAN more than 75% while one third (33.1%) had a knowledge score ranging from 50% to 75% with a median score of knowledge of 63.10 ± 25.48. Furthermore, more than half (51%) of participants were aware of the Suspected Child Abuse and Neglect (SCAN) team in the hospital. When participants were asked about the circumstances when they would not report suspected CAN cases, "I was not certain that the child was abused" was reported by 78.6%. Other barriers that inhibit reporting of child abuse and neglect are ignorance about how to report, in addition to having previous negative experiences after reporting.
The findings of the current study indicated that there exist barriers for not reporting suspected cases of child abuse and that availability of training and educational programmes are needed. Establishment of a clear and structured child protection policy to enable nurses to report abuse victims is recommended.
儿童虐待被认为是一个全球性问题，对受害者的身心健康有严重影响。护士在不同的医疗保健水平上与儿童及其家庭互动。所有护士都必须能够识别有遭受伤害或虐待风险的儿童，并采取相应行动。
本研究旨在调查沙特吉达阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王医疗城的护士报告疑似虐待和忽视儿童病例的障碍。
本研究在沙特吉达阿卜杜勒阿齐兹国王医疗城进行。来自所有儿科环境的 145 名护士使用非概率“便利”抽样技术参与了这项研究，并采用描述性设计。应用结构化的自我报告数据收集方法来收集有关参与者的知识和阻止他们报告虐待儿童的情况的数据。
发现只有五分之一（20.7%）的护士参加过儿童虐待和忽视（CAN）的讲座或研讨会。五分之二（40.7%）的参与者的 CAN 知识得分超过 75%，而三分之一（33.1%）的参与者的知识得分在 50%到 75%之间，中位数知识得分为 63.10±25.48。此外，超过一半（51%）的参与者知道医院的可疑儿童虐待和忽视（SCAN）团队。当被问及他们不会报告疑似 CAN 病例的情况时，78.6%的参与者报告称“我不确定孩子是否受到虐待”。此外，还有其他阻碍报告虐待和忽视儿童的障碍，包括对如何报告的无知，以及在报告后有过先前的负面经历。
本研究的结果表明，存在不报告疑似虐待儿童病例的障碍，需要提供培训和教育计划。建议建立明确和结构化的儿童保护政策，使护士能够报告虐待受害者。
