Assessing for Violence
A mother brought her 11-year-old daughter to the emergency room. The mother was anxious. This signified that she was probably concerned about what may happen after being seen by the medical staff. The mother said that her daughter had unusual behavior after coming home from work. The daughter did not greet the mother at the door and could not look her in the face while speaking. The daughter was also holding her right arm and would not tell her mother what happened. She just denied that anything was wrong. This meant that she was probably scared, possibly ashamed, and did not want to face reality. The mother reported a history of an alcoholic husband who usually drinks himself to sleep and was asleep when she got …show more content…
If there are any areas of extreme tenderness, the doctor may have the patient evaluated radiologically. Because of the daughter’s unusual behavior, the doctor will probably refer her to a mental health professional for a social and mental exam to more completely assess the child’s mental health status. It would also be important to assess the daughter for sexual abuse as well. A trained doctor would need to do a complete physical examination if sexual abuse were suspected. Areas he/she may examine closely would be the mouth, throat, anus, and vagina. If enough evidence were present, the doctor may also order labs to check for sexually transmitted diseases. If there is a strong indication of abuse of any sort from a parent, the doctor may choose to admit the daughter for observation, evaluation, and to protect her from further harm. In addition, all medical professionals, including the nurse, have a legal obligation to ensure this suspected abuse case is reported to Child Protective Services …show more content…
For health promotion, one of the nursing diagnoses could be ineffective protection related to an abusive father as evidence by past history of abuse and current bruising. An actual nursing diagnosis could be impaired verbal communication related to the trauma of the abusive incident as evidence by unusual behavior, lack of eye contact, and denial of the incident. A potential nursing diagnosis is a risk for other-directed violence related to an abusive father becoming angrier. Finally, a collaborative problem would be risk for complication (RC): post-trauma syndrome related to the abusive incident as evidence by current bruising and unusual
A mother brought her 11-year-old daughter to the emergency room. The mother was anxious. This signified that she was probably concerned about what may happen after being seen by the medical staff. The mother said that her daughter had unusual behavior after coming home from work. The daughter did not greet the mother at the door and could not look her in the face while speaking. The daughter was also holding her right arm and would not tell her mother what happened. She just denied that anything was wrong. This meant that she was probably scared, possibly ashamed, and did not want to face reality. The mother reported a history of an alcoholic husband who usually drinks himself to sleep and was asleep when she got …show more content…
If there are any areas of extreme tenderness, the doctor may have the patient evaluated radiologically. Because of the daughter’s unusual behavior, the doctor will probably refer her to a mental health professional for a social and mental exam to more completely assess the child’s mental health status. It would also be important to assess the daughter for sexual abuse as well. A trained doctor would need to do a complete physical examination if sexual abuse were suspected. Areas he/she may examine closely would be the mouth, throat, anus, and vagina. If enough evidence were present, the doctor may also order labs to check for sexually transmitted diseases. If there is a strong indication of abuse of any sort from a parent, the doctor may choose to admit the daughter for observation, evaluation, and to protect her from further harm. In addition, all medical professionals, including the nurse, have a legal obligation to ensure this suspected abuse case is reported to Child Protective Services …show more content…
For health promotion, one of the nursing diagnoses could be ineffective protection related to an abusive father as evidence by past history of abuse and current bruising. An actual nursing diagnosis could be impaired verbal communication related to the trauma of the abusive incident as evidence by unusual behavior, lack of eye contact, and denial of the incident. A potential nursing diagnosis is a risk for other-directed violence related to an abusive father becoming angrier. Finally, a collaborative problem would be risk for complication (RC): post-trauma syndrome related to the abusive incident as evidence by current bruising and unusual