The Role of Nurses in Telemedicine and Child Abuse

Abstract

Telemedicine allowed for imaging and videoconferencing between staff at a medical center hub and registered nurses who performed child abuse examinations at community hospitals. By means of electronic communication and information technology, a network was designed to facilitate the examination of children at distant locations when abuse was suspected. Telemedicine provided for expert consultation, rapid evaluation, response to community needs, and an expanded role for nurses. This anecdotal evaluation explored the experience from the view of the registered nurses and an advanced registered nurse practitioner who participated in the telemedicine network. Findings indicated that nurses went through phases of adjustments while becoming familiar with the information technology, cameras, and setup while focusing on the needs of the children and their own responses. Telemedicine nurses were able to draw upon their clinical backgrounds in caring for children and apply their knowledge and skills when assessing victims of abuse. On the basis of interviews and observation, it was concluded that telecommunication did not interfere with the nurse-patient relationship.

Registered nurse and midwife experiences of using videoconferencing in practice: A systematic review of qualitative studies

“…Two of the studies explored the postnatal period, one involving paediatric nurses contacting families who had an infant recently discharged from a neonatal unit (Lindberg, Axelsson, & Ohrling, ), while the other explored the experiences of midwives with new parents receiving postpartum support via VC (Lindberg, Ohrling, & Christensson, ). One study involved nurses using VC to triage paediatric patients to a hospital outpatient clinic (Cady & Finkelstein, ) and another to assess children for suspected child abuse and neglect (Foster & Whitworth, ). Six studies explored nurses’ or midwives’ experiences of remote assessment of patients in their homes (Cady & Finkelstein, ; Hibbert et al., ; Lindberg et al., , ; Oliver, Washington, Wittenberg‐Lyles, Demiris, & Porock, ; Solli, Hvalvik, Bjork, & Helleso, ).…”

“…“The experience dealing with the child is really not a whole lot different except for the need for me to want to touch and do…I want to be able to touch…I say the nurse is going to do this and that's the difficulty I have when I'm relating to the child.” (Foster & Whitworth, , p. 130).…”

“…She had to be able to talk with medical equipment sales personnel as she took on the role of liaison among people at many different levels. (Foster & Whitworth, , p. 130).…”

“…A lack of standardised practice relating to VC raised professional concerns for and placed additional demands upon nurses, particularly where it was not clear who was responsible to ensure consultations ran smoothly. Some felt a sense of personal responsibility for the success of VC, to get the equipment right and to relay salient details to the distant site (Foster & Whitworth, ). There were also concerns that patient deterioration would not be detected as readily via VC compared to home visits, and that this could put a nurse's registration at risk (Hibbert et al., ).…”

Future Directions in the Design, Development, and Investigation of Technology as a Service Delivery Vehicle

“…Prime examples of risk in child and adolescent specialty services in particular, include suspected child maltreatment and/or suicidality or homicidality in the child or adolescent client or their family members who may be accompanying them through the treatment process (e.g., Foster & Whitworth, 2005; Godleski, Nieves, Darkins, & Lehmann, 2008). For example, how will the potential for self-harm or harm to others be assessed via technology?…”