Abuse and Neglect: Child Abuse

Signs of Physical Child Abuse:

• Unexplained bruise or welts
• Unexplained burns
• Unexplained fractures (multiple or in various stages of healing)
• Unexplained lacerations or abrasions (mouth, eyes, and external genitalia)
• Expresses fear of going home
• Appears frightened of parents
• Reports of being injured by parents
• Exhibits extreme aggressiveness or withdrawal
• Acts wary of contact with adults
• Becomes apprehensive when other children cry

Signs of Physical Child Neglect:

• Inappropriate dress
• Always hungry
• Poor hygiene
• Uncared for medical or physical problems
• Begging or stealing food
• Abandonment
• Early arrival and late departure from school
• Fatigue
• Listlessness
• Reports lack of a caretaker
• Delinquency

Why the parent becomes an abusive parent? Here are the risk factors that parent become an abuser:

1. Under significant stress
2. Abused as a child
3. Deficient in social and financial resources
4. Lack of impulse control
5. Uses inappropriate coping skills
6. Anger and hostility
7. Ambivalent toward parenthood
8. Mental illness
9. Marital problems
10. Lack of knowledge regarding children development
11. Substance abuser

Nursing Interventions:

• Assess the patient, family, and significant others about the signs of an impending crisis and effective problem solving techniques to manage crisis
• Assess the patient, family, and significant others about the signs of abuse and neglect, and to access help immediately if abuse or neglect are suspected
• Assess caregivers about coping strategies to prevent abuse and neglect