Citation

Anderson C. Child Abuse Negl. 1980; 4(1): 33-38.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1980, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Community health nursing has great potential for intervening in the cycle of child abuse/neglect. Much of what can be done with families is accomplished through identification of the parenting problem, developing a therapeutic relationship with the parents, role-modeling, providing concrete help with logistical problems, crisis intervention, teaching, use of appropriate resources, and co-ordination of services. A major goal of the community health nurse might be to partially make up for the early emotional/psychological deprivation of the parents, helping them mature as individuals and become more adequate parents. At the same time, the nurse attends to the health and welfare needs of the children in ways that do not threaten the parents, incorporating resources for the children into the treatment program when indicated.The work is demanding and difficult, and many nurses in practice today have had little formal educational preparation in child abuse/neglect intervention. There is a need for nurses and agencies alike to assume responsibility for continuing education. As important as knowledge is the nurse's own maturity, enormous perservance, energy, willingness for intensive involvement, and ability to be an advocate for the family and to co-ordinate services with others involved.There is a need for quality supervision and consultation for the nurse, for flexible policies which facilitate the nurse's effectiveness with families, for administrative back-up in making the difficult decisions necessary in these complex situations, and for manageable caseloads. It is helpful when there are resources in the community for meeting the many and varied needs of risk families and when there is a mechanism for co-ordination of services. Helping families where there is actual or potential child abuse or neglect is a community problem. The community health nurse can make a valuable contribution to families and to society as parents are supported and facilitated toward a deeper maturity and improved parenting capacity.