Home nursing and child abuse

[ERtraumanurse]

Just wnat to hear from the other nurses out there who have run into this. I had my first child neglect/abuse case today and it really Peed me off This little guy was only 3 and his parents had him in this filthy house and he didn't even have on his own pajamas.

He had "chemical burns" to his member and abdomen (mom wouldn't tell me how this happened) and when mom took the diaper off his member began to bleed.

I sent him and mom to the hospital and reported this to the authorities *grumbling with anger*

Why are people like this allowed to have children???!@!!! :(

[hoolahan, ASN, RN]

{{{{ERtraumanurse}}}}} I feel your pain. I have neverhad to deal with child abuse, but have had to deal with elder abuse.

I don't know why this has to happen, but it hurts so much when it does, especially to kids, who don't know any better. They don't know it's not supposed to hurt!

I have no answers for you, but just want to give you a {{{{hug}}}} and commend you for taking steps to enact a change. (I just hope you aren't in NJ since our DYFS system needs some serious overhauling!!)

[kids]

Poor kiddo, the "chemical burns" are probably r/t an unchanged diaper.

Anyone with the correct *equipment* can breed, unfortunately some people just don't realize they are not parent material until it is too late (if ever).

I did Peds private duty for a long time, in general we didn't encounter abuse but neglect (of the healthy siblings) was fairly common. The more overwhelmed the parent(s), the more likely or severe the neglect was.

Neglect can lead to abuse, as in "your" childs situation (assuming it is a diaper issue) but to me there is a big difference between someone who doesn't have the personal resources (including IQ points) to be a good parent and someone who beats, burns or starves their child. Neglectful parents can be salvaged with parenting classes, supervision and an opportunity to observe and model appropriate behavior.

You definately put "your" child and his parent(s) on the path to getting that help. Good for you! Sometimes the system is not a bad place to be if you are a parent who wants to do a better job.