Staff At One Local Hospital Undergo Training To Detect Suspected Child Abuse
By Robin Culverwell
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- More than 1,000 victims of child abuse are treated at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children every year. Friday, staff there met to talk about suspected child abuse, part of an effort to meet new state training requirements.
For more than a decade, doctors and nurses and staff at St. Christopher's have been trained in detecting potential cases of abuse and neglect. But new state laws require that those cases be reported to the authorities so they can be investigated, and that puts staff in a potentially awkward position.
"We don't walk in accusing the parent or caregiver that we think they're the perpetrator or offender. It's all about protecting the child and we tell them that it's about the protection of the child," says nurse practitioner Betsy Grund.
This ongoing training takes place three or four times a year and involves specific cases of abuse.
It gives doctors and nurses a refresher course in looking at young patients from head to toe to catch abuse that might otherwise go unnoticed.