Nurses' knowledge of and experience with Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy

Because of their proximity to children and families, pediatric nurses are in a key position to identify warning signs of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) and alert other team members to the possible diagnosis. MSBP knowledge and experience of 132 pediatric nurses was assessed and compared with the results of two previously published articles. Consistent with previous reports, approximately half of the respondents had heard of MSBP. They were most likely to have received information about MSBP from direct experience (23.5%) and the media (19%). Only 25% of the nurses reported that they seriously suspected they had seen a case of MSBP during the past year. Despite the fact that 95% of the pediatric nurses responded that it was "very important" to know about MSBP, only one reported having learned about it from his or her academic training, and only 12 (9%) had read about it in a professional journal.