Simple intervention to improve detection of child abuse in emergency departments.

ABSTRACT:

Problem

Child abuse is easily overlooked in a busy emergency department.

Design

Two stage audit of 1000 children before and after introduction of reminder flowchart.

Background and setting

An emergency department in a suburban teaching hospital seeing about 4000 injured preschool children a year.

Key measures for improvement

Number of records in which intentional injury was adequately documented and considered and the number of children referred for further assessment before and after introduction of reminder flowchart into emergency department notes.

Strategies for change

Nurses were asked to insert a reminder flowchart for assessing intentional injury into the notes of all children aged 0-5 years attending the department with any injury and to record t

SUBMITTER: Benger JR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1122710 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature