Innovative Scenario-Based Child Abuse Training for Doctoral Nurse Practitioner Students

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Nursing Education
• Child Welfare

Background:

• Child maltreatment poses significant long-term public health risks.
• Graduate nursing education, especially for nurse practitioners (NPs), often lacks comprehensive training in recognizing and responding to child abuse.
• Existing curricula inadequately prepare NPs to address child maltreatment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the impact of a structured, evidence-informed training session on NP students' ability to recognize, respond to, and manage suspected child sexual abuse.
• To evaluate the effectiveness of in-person training in enhancing NP students' skills in child maltreatment cases.

Main Methods:

• A voluntary pre- and post-survey design was employed with 34 NP students.
• Surveys were administered via Qualtrics to measure changes in confidence levels.
• Chi-squared (χ²) analysis was used to determine the statistical significance of changes in confidence.

Main Results:

• NP students reported enhanced self-confidence in identifying signs of abuse, documenting suspected cases, and making appropriate referrals.
• Statistical analysis revealed a significant improvement in confidence related to recognizing abuse and documentation post-training.
• The training positively impacted key domains of child abuse management for NP students.

Conclusions:

• Integrating structured, evidence-informed training on child maltreatment into graduate NP programs is crucial.
• Such educational interventions can bolster provider competence in early identification, intervention, and referral.
• Further research is necessary to explore long-term impacts and refine training methodologies.