What are the principles involved? First and foremost are the principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. The do good, do not harm and prevent harm principles for nursing. So as the nurse who is examining Lora, you have to think of removing her from harm by reporting your findings as well as what she has said to prevent her from continuing to live in that abusive environment. The nurse also has to consider Lora's autonomy. She as a person over the age of 14 and able to make her own medical decisions. But, she is not an adult. She is not able to govern herself according to the law and that has to be considered. Advocacy is another issue. Nurses are to advocate for their patient. In this instance, you don't want Lora to go back to a sexually …show more content…
Anyone can report anonymously to child protective services. Give the information and let CPS handle it.
#4) Report the incident to child protective services and the police. As an automatic reporter it is our duty to report all instances of abuse that we see. Giving detailed information, and tell the authorities what Lora said about the sexual abuse as well.
What are the possible outcomes of the different options?
#1) Lora can choose to take your advice and tell or she could choose to keep quiet. Either way you will not know what happened and you still fail to report which you are mandated to do. It can be held against you license and in court.
#2) Keeping quiet would eat at me if I were the nurse who assessed this young girl. It would also send Lora back into a volatile situation and there would be no resolve. You also failed to report the incident and that can be held against you in a court of law.
#3) Reporting anonymously can keep your name out of it, Lora won't know it was you who told, but I am sure the list of people who know the real truth isn't very long. She would be able to surmise who was the culprit. This action could get CPS to investigate the home, allegations against her biological and step father. The will do a full assessment of the situation and if warranted take it a step further. You have done your due diligence to report what you observed and were told.(ODJFS,