Abstract
The purpose of this project is to assess, for practicing pediatric nurses in the U.S., what is the impact of the Stewards of Children Child Sexual Abuse (CSA) program on their attitudes about reporting suspected CSA. A sample size of 32 nurses completed an online 2-hour continuing education course by Stewards of Children, with a pre/post-test survey. A modified 14-item version of the Teachers Reporting Attitudes Scale for Child Sexual Abuse (TRAS-CSA) was used to measure the nurses’ attitudes before and after educational training. The surveys were analyzed to assess changes in attitudes using two-tailed sign tests. Nurses’ commitment to reporting CSA is high, even before training. Nurses’ confidence in the system of reporting and in the response of authorities related to CSA increased after taking the Stewards of Children online course. While these results are limited in strength by low sample sizes and some null changes, they indicate that trainings like the Stewards of Children course can positively impact nurses’ attitudes towards reporting CSA, particularly with regards to confidence in reporting, and therefore warrant further investigation into CSA training for nurses and its effects.
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Data Availability
The raw data that support the findings of this study are openly available in https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-023-00581-7.
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Acknowledgements
A special thank you to Dr. Joy Shoemaker and Dr. Amy Hotler for your guidance in Otterbein’s DNP program.
Funding
This research was supported by grant 729577 from Otterbein University Student Research Funds.
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Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Dr. Lindsay Keller conceptualized the framework for her DNP school research project, selected the sample requirements and recruiting method, obtained permission to use the Teachers Reporting Attitudes Scale for Child Sexual Abuse (TRAS-CSA), drafted the informed consent form, obtained Institutional Review Board approval, obtained grant funding from Otterbein University Student Research Fund, setup the survey tool via Qualtrics, purchased The Stewards of Children online training course, recruited and emailed the participants, and wrote up the first draft. Dr. Kirk Kayser offered significant statistical input, analyzed the data, created the tables/figures, and revised the paper for important intellectual content. Both authors read and approved the final manuscript.
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The survey and methodology for this study was approved by Otterbein University Institutional Review Board.
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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.
Expenses
The Stewards of Children online course cost $10 per person (40 participants = $ 400).
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Keller, L.A., Kayser, K. The Impact of Training on Nurses’ Attitudes Toward Reporting Child Sexual Abuse: a Pilot Study. Journ Child Adol Trauma (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-023-00581-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40653-023-00581-7