Why Nurses Underreport Suspected Child Abuse Cases

Abstract

Between the years 1963 to 1967, the federal government enacted the first mandatory reporting laws (Mathews & Kenny, 2008).This reporting duty was designated to health care professionals, social workers, teachers, and childcare providers who are likely to encounter children on a daily basis due to their nature of work. The purpose of this paper is to identify some of the factors that influence health professionals to underreport child abuse or neglect cases. This issue is particularly important in nursing because of nurses’ close contact with children, parents, and family members.