" ......
Just so heartbreaking, in this day and age, when we are so in one another's business as a society, in so many ways, that this kind of horrific abuse can go on, and so many know about it, and no one act. Frightening. Simply frightening. "
Snipped & bolded by me
The first place I worked after I became a nurse (in the early '70's), was Los Angeles Children's Hospital.
I worked on a medical floor & in the ER. It was drilled into our heads back then, by attorneys & in In-Service
classes, that we must NEVER accuse or insinuate that a child was physically and/or mentally abused.
This was because we could be sued big time by the parents!!! And possibly lose our licenses.
I worked there for 3.5 yrs & then moved to the east coast. Didn't work for 8 yrs while I had my own
children & don't remember actually when it became the law that nurses, teachers, etc were MANDATED
to report any suspicions of child abuse.... and were also protected if the parents tried to sue.
To me, it was the best law ever passed!!!
I saw abused & murdered children at LACH, so many yrs ago, and all we could do was whisper our thoughts
& what we suspected. It wasn't even written anywhere in the child's chart what we suspected had caused
the child's cuts, bruises, burns, fractures & other signs of possible abuse. All that could be charted was what
the parent told us had happened.
Since then, I have worked at general hospitals, psych hospitals, and at Emer Walk-In Clinics and I'm so
relieved that nurses, doctors, health care workers, social workers, teachers... and a very long list of others
that are mandated to report any suspicious findings/observations.
Since those sad (and helpless) early days at LACH, I have reported, many times to authorities, without fear
of being sued or losing my license, what I suspected & saw as child or spousal abuse.
I like to think that I was able to save a child's life, because of those changes in the laws.
