Discussion: Treating Childhood Abuse

Discussion: Treating Childhood Abuse

Discussion: Treating Childhood Abuse

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Question Description
APA PLEASE

Post:

What strategies would you employ to assess the patient for abuse? Explain why you selected these strategies.
How might exposure to the media and/or social media affect the patient?
What type of mandatory reporting (if any) is required in this case? Why?
Week 4: Trauma and Stressor-Related Disorders in Childhood
“He was drunk again, so I should have known better. I should have stayed away from the house, but that would have made him madder. He has done this before, but not nearly this bad. He broke my wrist as I was protecting my mom. The neighbor heard the screaming and called the cops. They hauled him away, but I know he will be back. She always lets him come back.”
Avery, age 14
In August of 2005, thousands of children lost their homes in Hurricane Katrina. On December 14, 2012, the students at Sandy Hook Elementary School experienced the death of 20 of their classmates and six of their teachers. Every day, children experience physical and sexual abuse and neglect by their parents or caregivers. These types of trauma have a lifelong impact on the children involved and those witnessing the events. As much as we try to prevent unwanted childhood trauma and stressors, the phenomena are present in our culture. Childhood trauma is a significant contributor to both physical and mental health problems in children and adults.

This week, you examine several cases of child abuse and neglect, and you recommend strategies for assessing for abuse. You analyze influences of media and social media on mental health and evaluate the need for mandatory reporting of abuse. You also submit your Practicum Journal and Assignments.

Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s required library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus.
REQUIRED READINGS
Sadock, B. J., Sadock, V. A., & Ruiz, P. (2014). Kaplan & Sadock’s synopsis of psychiatry: Behavioral sciences/clinical psychiatry (11th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Wolters Kluwer.Chapter 31, “Child Psychiatry” (pp. 1216–1226)
American Psychiatric Association. (2013). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (5th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.
“Trauma- and Stressor-related Disorders”
Pfefferbaum, B., & Shaw, J. A. (2013). Practice parameter on disaster preparedness. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 52(11), 1224–1238. Retrieved from http://www.jaacap.com/article/S0890-8567(13)00550-…
American Psychiatric Nurses Association. (2017). Childhood and adolescent trauma. Retrieved from http://www.apna.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=454…
Document: Childhood Abuse Case Study (PDF)
Stahl, S. M. (2014). Prescriber’s Guide: Stahl’s Essential Psychopharmacology (5th ed.). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Note: All Stahl resources can be accessed through the Walden Library using the link. This link will take you to a login page for the Walden Library. Once you log in to the library, the Stahl website will appear.
To access information on the following medications, click on The Prescriber’s Guide, 5th Ed. tab on the Stahl Online website and select the appropriate medication.
Review the following medications:

Posttraumatic stress disorder
citalopram
clonidine
desvenlafaxine
escitalopram
fluoxetine
fluvoxamine
mirtazapine
nefazodone
paroxetine
prazosin (nightmares)
propranolol (prophylactic)
sertraline
venlafaxine
Note: Many of these medications are FDA approved for adults only. Some are FDA approved for disorders in children and adolescents. Many are used “off label” for the disorders examined in this week. As you read the Stahl drug monographs, focus your attention on FDA approvals for children/adolescents (including “ages” for which the medication is approved, if applicable) and further note which drugs are “off label.”OPTIONAL RESOURCES
Thapar, A., Pine, D. S., Leckman, J. F., Scott, S., Snowling, M. J., & Taylor, E. A. (2015). Rutter’s child and adolescent psychiatry (6th ed.). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley Blackwell.Chapter 50, “Provision of Intensive Treatment: Intensive Outreach, Day Units, and In-Patient Units” (pp. 648–664)
Chapter 58, “Disorders of Attachment and Social Engagement Related to Deprivation” (pp. 795–805)
Chapter 59, “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” (pp. 806–821)
Chapter 64, “Suicidal Behavior and Self-Harm” (pp. 893–912)

Discussion: Treating Childhood Abuse
In 2012, statistics in the United States indicated that state CPS agencies received 3.4 million referrals for child abuse and neglect. Of these, nearly 700,000 children were found to be victims of maltreatment: 18% were victims of physical abuse and 78% were victims of neglect (CDC, 2014). Child sexual abuse makes up roughly 10% of child maltreatment cases in the United States (CDC, 2014). The CDC considers sexual abuse at any age a form of violence. Child abuse of any kind can lead to an increased state of inflammatory markers in adulthood, as well as multiple physical illnesses and high-risk behavior such as alcoholism and drug abuse. If a PMHNP identifies child abuse, there may be a need to report the abuse to authorities. Once able to provide treatment, the PMHNP can be instrumental in reducing the long-term effects of child abuse.

In this Discussion, you recommend strategies for assessing for abuse and analyze influences of media and social media on mental health. You also evaluate the need for mandatory reporting of abuse.

Learning Objectives
Students will:
Recommend strategies for assessing for abuse
Analyze influences of media and social media on mental health
Evaluate the need for mandatory reporting of abuse
To Prepare for this Discussion:

Read the Learning Resources concerning treating childhood abuse.
Read the Child Abuse Case Study in the Learning Resources.
Note: For this Discussion, you are required to complete your initial post before you will be able to view and respond to your colleagues’ postings. Begin by clicking on the “Post to Discussion Question” link and then select “Create Thread” to complete your initial post. Remember, once you click submit, you cannot delete or edit your own posts and cannot post anonymously. Please check your post carefully before clicking Submit!
BY DAY 3
Post:

What strategies would you employ to assess the patient for abuse? Explain why you selected these strategies.
How might exposure to the media and/or social media affect the patient?
What type of mandatory reporting (if any) is required in this case? Why?

You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.

Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.

Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.

The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.