Dissertation
Nurses as essential partners in recognizing and responding to child abuse and neglect
Washington State University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
2023
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.7273/000005059
Abstract
Child abuse and neglect (CAN) remain a pervasive public health crisis resulting in costly, acute, and chronic physical and mental conditions for those who survive. As the largest segment of the United States (US) workforce, US nurses have a mandated duty to report CAN; yet, medical personnel (including nurses) report CAN at lower rates than educational, law, and legal personnel. Institutions may fail to support nurses in their mandated duty to report CAN with nurses expressing concern about a lack of necessary education and training on CAN and reporting of suspected CAN. There is a critical need to examine nurse professional CAN reporting knowledge and self-efficacy of reporting suspected CAN among US nurses. While internationally validated measures of nurse professional self-efficacy in reporting CAN have been developed, they do not reflect the experiences of US nurses. Limited research has studied US nurses in their roles as mandated reporters exploring the institutional barriers and facilitators that shape professional nurse knowledge and self-efficacy of reporting suspected CAN. We addressed this gap by examining nurse reporting knowledge and self-efficacy of reporting suspected CAN and the institutional challenges and facilitators that shape this nursing role. First, we adapted two international surveys of nurse CAN knowledge and self-efficacy and psychometrically assessed the adapted survey in a sample of US nurses (Aim 1). Then, using this psychometrically validated survey of CAN knowledge and self-efficacy of reporting among US nurses, we determined the relationship between nurse and institutional characteristics with knowledge and self-efficacy of reporting suspected CAN in a sample of US nurses (Aim 2). With a well-prepared nursing workforce, the public health approach to child protection can be strengthened. This study has the potential to strengthen child protections by understanding the ability of the nursing workforce to recognize and respond to CAN, and to provide supportive services to children, youth, and families.
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Details
- Title
- Nurses as essential partners in recognizing and responding to child abuse and neglect
- Creators
- Anna Kristina Delight Winquist
- Contributors
- Ekaterina Burduli (Advisor)Celestina Barbosa-Leiker (Committee Member)Linda Eddy (Committee Member)Tullamora Landis (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- College of Nursing
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 128
- Identifiers
- 99901019633401842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation