The Nurse Practitioner’s Role in Safeguarding Children from Physical Abuse

Abstract

Child physical abuse (CPA) is among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in young children. Nurse practitioners are ideally positioned to institute prevention strategies against CPA and need to be able to recognize the often subtle or nonspecific features of CPA. Early identification of CPA allows for more prompt intervention, which can ameliorate health outcomes among these highly vulnerable patients. All nurse practitioners, even those with only 1 pediatric patient under their care, need to have basic CPA competencies, including identification of red flags, knowledge of risk factors, provision of appropriate screening, and facilitation of early intervention strategies.