Nurse abuses own child

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I have not seen any forums related to this and seem to still have more questions than solid answers, so I post this for all of you woderful people to read and comment on. I am hoping to get some type of clarification for knowledge sake. For an example, I will use this senario- An RN who has a child. This said child one day decided to report to someone that the mom(RN) has been abusing and sexually inapproriatly touching this child for years. This child decided to place themself in a potentially dangerous situation than to continue to take the abuse...like jumping out of a moving car to get away from being punched in the face...). Child is taken to ER at the facility where mom(RN) works but not in the ER, child requires many stitches and after police are called by ER staff, goes to foster care protection. Situation then changes to child going to live with dad and dad being awarded custody of child. Mom(RN) then decides to refuse to let child have any of their clothes, music, books, bike...etc and continues to verbally place threatening limits on child (ie. example- I wouldn't keep all your stuff away from you if you hadn't...fill in the blank, it's all your fault anyway). So now, child is away from mom(RN) and tells dad about him waking up in the middle of the night with mom(RN) laying in twin bed with her hand in child's pants caressing privates. Child also stated that mom(RN) used to always give kisses that resulted in dark red hickys on child. So, if you were listening to this story...what would your thoughts be and what actions would you try to do? Keep in mind this mom is an RN and is in a position of teaching nursing students. Thanks so much for any input.:cry::nono::confused::eek:

Specializes in Med Surg, Hospice.

In this case, the OP gave us some extremely disjointed hearsay, about a nurse she knows, accusations have been made, the child has been removed from the home and is now in the custody of the father.

That is all it is.. heresay... The OP wasn't there....

child psych has been my specialty for many years, and i've been directly involved, as a child psych cns, in plenty of child sexual abuse allegations, and, in my personal experience, a good number of them end up not being substantiated -- not because of some gross miscarriage of justice, but because nothing really happened.

this is not the norm, and we both know that.

furthermore, i am very aware of the different techniques used in mind-control and programming.

these 'therapists' who are found guilty of this, should be banned from practicing.

in this case, the op gave us some extremely disjointed hearsay, about a nurse she knows, accusations have been made, the child has been removed from the home and is now in the custody of the father.

now she feels as if she needs to also ruin the rns career before she is even brought before the legal system? does she think the rn is going to molest her nursing students? she plans to defame her character based on some hearsay that has not been proven in a court of law?

we all know of tragic cases. usually that's because of the overworked social services, lack of good foster homes, and over abundence of abused kids. but, that doesn't mean that we then seek to ruin people in every way before they have had their say in court!

you're right.

based on the op's story, no way would i rush to judgment.

but what if there is reasonable suspicion, and this nurse works in peds?

with this particular situation, knowing the child is not in mom's custody, i would likely let it go.

all i'm saying is "innocent until guilty" doesn't fly with me in all cases.

if i can find the data, i will show you the rates of abuse in this country.

it's mind boggling, and very real.

to dismiss it otherwise, is to serve the victims w/overwhelming injustice, and props to let it continue.

that's all.

leslie

Sigh...this is why I like animals, they don't do this kind of thing. I don't really have anything significant to add to the discussion. Unfortunately, child abusers come from all walks of life...knew of someone when I was younger who was abused by a parent who was a church leader...sadly one's profession doesn't determine one's moral "code"...:(

I disagree that in this scenario a nurse would not be legally obligated to report suspected abuse because the child had previously been placed in foster care. The nurse does not know all the facts. The nurse does not know what authorities might have been involved in the investigation, nor what they might have been told. Based on her conversations with the child, she might have important information to contribute to a pending investigation. Or she might not know that, as is the case in my state, overwhelmed social workers might not investigate complaints until a particular threshold has been met. If she chose not to obey the law, she would be making that decision based on assumptions that might not hold any water. She really doesn't know the whole picture.

The bottom line for me is that there is no ethical dilemma for a nurse in this situation. A nurse is not an investigator nor a law enforcement authority. His or her obligation is to follow the law, just like everyone else who is a mandated reporter. The law does not require her to call the BON; that, at least in my state, is a function of the courts upon bail (if there is a no-contact provision) and/or at conviction and sentencing. She should do what the system legally requires of her, then let the system do its job.

I'm disappointed but not surprised that people would take an "MYOB" attitude when it comes to children's safety.

Any Social Worker will tell you: Even the most horribly abused child will still want to go back to their parents.

The material things that child has lost, can all be replaced, and in time, the child will forget about them.

................................

:spbox:

This is tragic for the kid, being victimized by his mothers selfishness. The threats and the blame throwing is being used in an attempt to control the kid. It's a manipulation game and the only winning move is to disengage, not to play. The items can be replaced hopefully, but innocence and security are harder to replace. I hope the kid has a good therapist, and he can heal.

Elkpark, I don't think the story is fishy. The OP couldn't give a whole lot of details, but the ones she gave point to a typical abuser.

I would imagine the BON would have to be involved after she's found guilty if this affected any vulnerable pts.

Specializes in ER, ICU, Infusion, peds, informatics.
do you actually think the bon should be notifiied before someone is actually convicted of a crime? i disagree with that. we are presumed innocent until proven guilty in the united states.

yes, i do.

most state bons require us to report reasonable belief of professional misconduct.

i'm pretty sure the bon would expect this to be reported.

we aren't talking about a speeding ticket. we are talking about abuse of a child.

the op appears to have reasonal belief that the abuse occurred. her perception may be inaccurate. the child could be telling lies. that doesn't mean it shouldn't be reported.

the bon is charged with protecting the public. they don't just suspend licenses -- they investigate complaints first. from the way things have been presented, that is an investigation that needs to occurr.

elkpark -- i'm equally dumfounded that more posters don't think this should be reported. i do realize that with your experience in child psych that you have seen plenty of children capable of making this stuff up. but haven't you seen even more actual abuse cases?

i also understand that some are questioning the op's motivations, and what her role is in all of this.

however, based on the situation as posted, i do believe that the op has an obligation to make a report to the bon. she is a professional who appears to have a good faith belief that a peer is committing professional misconduct. only she really knows what her motivations are.

if the situation is serious enough that law enforcement is investigating, the the bon should be involved. if the bon finds that prosecutors don't think there is evidence of wrong-doing, then the bon will likely find the same.

That's not true, Leslie. There have been many cases of children being influenced by interviewers with agendas. There was a case years ago where a whole church was accused of being a child sex abuse ring, and several families were ruined, and the whole thing turned out to be false.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wenatchee_sex_ring

found this:

False allegation of child sexual abuse

http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_allegation_of_child_sexual_abuse

although statistics are skewed, it's not hard to conclude that 'overreporting' has less implications than those who 'underreport'.

it's near impossible to find accurate stats when so many victims have not reported their abuses.

if the op has more "facts" than he is posting, it's understandable that he'd want to have this nurse reported.

leslie

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

But leslie, the child has already been removed from the home. CPS has the rights to remove children if there is a strong suspicion, without a trial. That's is fine with me, even though there have been documented cases of some social workers misusing this ability.

But, unless the accused perpetrator is actually working with children, they should still maintain an ability to earn a living. In the Wenatchee case that I cited, people who were falsely accused were totally ruined. Their children were taken away for long periods, they lost their ability to earn a living, they lost their homes.

The American system is supposed to protect the rights of the accused. It's supposed to guarantee due process no matter how despicable the crime is.

i find it just as tragic, when innocent people are wrongfully convicted.

thankfully, this is not the norm.

my ethical values tend to lean towards utilitarianism: (in this case, anyway)

that one must act to achieve the greatest good for the greatest number.

and from another thread, i stated that i deal with a lot of egregious acts of human suffering, and it has made me jaded.

i 'see' how the accused are protected with due process.

i 'see' the million loopholes their lawyers shred apart, having their cases dismissed.

conceptually, due process is a great protective necessity.

yet i've seen it work to the advantage of those who have atrociously wronged others, and continue to do so.

i 'see' these abuses r/t the victims being scared to death of repercussions, and remain silent.

plus, there is more subjective, expert analysis vs objective, hard-core data to substantiate these claims.

it makes for a lot of grey areas.

and even w/this process, there is often, not enough precedents or laws, to vindicate those who have been wronged.

if there are laws, they are very difficult to prove...w/o a shadow of a doubt.

again, i'm not saying this nurse should be reported to the BON.

only the op knows the hard data he possesses, and should proceed accordingly and appropriately.

leslie

Specializes in LTC, Med/Surg, Peds, ICU, Tele.

You're right, the system is frustrating, with viscious killers and wrongdoers getting off scot free. Nevertheless, I'd rather live in America, with it's safeguards.

Has the Mom(RN) been charged with anything and if not why?. I also question why is this person still practicing? If she will abuse her own child what will she do to a stranger? Dad and child need to move on and seek criminal charges and psych help. It's amazing to think that we "really" don't know the people we work with on a daily basis.:eek:

Specializes in Operating Room Nursing.

I don't know what the law is on this issue overseas, but in Australia nurses are mandatory reporters of child abuse. By law if we suspect that a child under our care is being abused or neglected then we HAVE to report this to the appropriate authorities.

I'm not sure if the DON should be told of the allegations. Perhaps contact a legal person for advice on this one.

I just can't believe that people here have said that the OP should MYOB. This attitude, especially from nurses is beyond belief, you should feel ashamed. :nono:

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