Long term effects of child abuse: lessons for Australian paediatric nurses

Abstract

Objective: Child abuse has short and long term consequences. Literature that explores the long term effect of child abuse on children has been reviewed.

Setting: Prevalence of the long term consequences of child abuse within the Australian paediatric population.

Sample: The search utilised medical search terms of ‘child abuse’, ‘long term effects’, ‘adverse childhood events’, ‘violence’, ‘cortisol response to stress’, ‘post-traumatic stress disorder’, ‘nurs*’, ‘paediatric’, ‘abuse’, ‘neglect’ and ‘prevention’ in health related databases to locate literature published from 2007 until present.

Primary argument: Data concerning child abuse and neglect in Australian children is sparse and inconsistent with no literature found specifically relating to the role of paediatric nurses.

Conclusion: Further analysis on the effects of child abuse and neglect on Australian children will help to gauge its health burden on the country, and to help health professionals better understand this contemporary child safety concern.