Assessment of child abuse risk factors by advanced practice nurses

To investigate how frequently Advanced Practice Nurses (APN) assess and document risk factors for child abuse and neglect (CAN) during family assessments and what risk factors are documented.

APNs were surveyed to determine what risk factors are documented in their clinical practice. The survey questionnaire was adapted from the Parenting Profile Assessment (PPA) developed by Anderson (1987) and included 20 risk factors that are highly predictive of parental potential for abusive behavior. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data, and percentages and frequency distributions were calculated for each risk factor.

While 10 of the 20 risk factors were documented on over 50% of the time, eight risk factors were documented on less than 40% of family assessments. Of the 87 respondents, 63% stated that they have reported one or more incidences of suspected child abuse.

These findings demonstrate a deficit of knowledge and comprehension of the significance of key risk factors for CAN.