Citation

Dimond B. Accid. Emerg. Nurs. 1993; 1(4): 225-228.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1993, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/0965-2302(93)90089-I

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Imagine the following situation: On a busy Monday morning in the Accident and Emergency (A & E) department, a mother brings her 3-year-old child into the department stating that the child has fallen down the stairs. On examination, the child is found to be suffering from multiple bruises and a suspected fracture of the collar bone. The injuries appear to be consistent with the mother's account of the incident, but there are some scars which could have resulted from burns. The thought crosses the staff nurse's mind that this could be a case of non-accidental injury, but there is a long queue of people waiting to be seen, and when she voices her concerns to the senior house officer he discounts it and says he is far too busy to take any further action at that time. What action should the staff nurse take?

Language: en