NURS 6650 – Treating Childhood Abuse Essay
What strategies would you employ to assess the patient for abuse? Explain why you selected these strategies.
How might exposure to the media and/or social media affect the patient?
What type of mandatory reporting (if any) is required in this case? Why?
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Child abuse is a global concern that affects the mental and physical stability of the victim. According to Thapar et al. (2015), there were 3.4 million referrals of child neglect and abuse cases in 2012. Many of the cases are caused by close relatives which makes reporting difficult due to fear and shame considering that children are still dependent on the abusers for provision. This paper explores abuse through the study of Morgan, a 19-year-old male’s, case with the aim of determining the assessment strategies foe abused patients, media and social media exposure and the mandatory reporting types for abuse cases NURS 6650 – Treating Childhood Abuse Essay.
Assessment Strategies
Physical examination is an effective strategy in assessing the signs of abuse. It identifies scars, deformities and other marks that suggest previous case of physical abuse. Inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation techniques are used to identify any deviations from the normal and also identify long-term effects of physical abuse on the patient (Sadock, Sadock, & Ruiz, 2014). On the other hand, psychological assessment screens for the mental status of the patient following the abuse incidences. For instance, the patient reports to have a depressed mood and panic attacked from the return of their abuser and this suggests that the event affects his mental wellbeing. This examination will involve the evaluation of the patient’s behavior, learning and thinking through psychological testing, observation, interviews and consultation (American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 2017) NURS 6650 – Treating Childhood Abuse Essay. These assessment strategies will inform accurate diagnosis as well as the formulation of the appropriate treatment plan.
Effects of exposure to the media and/or social media
The media and social media present increased exposure of persons to the outside world. Exposing patients to these platforms can have both positive and negative repercussions. For instance, exposure to the media and social media can help the client in getting psychological help from professionals. Additionally, he might be able to meet and interact with other individuals who have had familiar experiences and get to learn how to cope with the return of his abuser. On the other hand, exposure can result to bullying of the patient which could result to depression and social withdrawal among other mental problems. The patient might be ridiculed by the public subjecting them into significant distress which would eventually turn the patient into an abuser in the future. The exposure also breaches the privacy rights of the patients. on the contrary, it can also result in acceptance of the victim by the society as the media creates awareness of social crimes through his case NURS 6650 – Treating Childhood Abuse Essay. He might as well be used as the ambassador of the abused to share his experiences in the future and help others in their recovery.
Mandatory reporting required in this case
Mandatory reporting of abuse is a legal requirement in the United States for cases observed or suspected. Mandated reporters are responsible for reporting and in this case, the healthcare provider is expected to report to the child protective services (CPS). The report will be classified in the sexual abuse category since the patient was molested by their cousin during his childhood. The report will be filed with the child protection authorities as required by the Child Protection Act 1999 (Pfefferbaum & Shaw, 2013). Mandatory reporting will therefore be done to allow protection of the patient against future molestation and provide counselling on how to improve his quality of life even with the cousin currently out of prison NURS 6650 – Treating Childhood Abuse Essay.
References
American Psychiatric Nurses Association. (2017). Childhood and adolescent trauma. Retrieved from http://www.apna.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=4545
Pfefferbaum, B., & Shaw, J. A. (2013). Practice parameter on disaster preparedness. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 52(11), 1224–1238. Retrieved from http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(13)00550-9/pdf
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.
Thapar, A., Pine, D. S., Leckman, J. F., Scott, S., Snowling, M. J., & Taylor, E. A. (2015). Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell. NURS 6650 – Treating Childhood Abuse Essay.