According to the legal provisions of the state of Florida, nurses are mandatory reporters of child abuse, neglect, and abandonment. The mandated reporter statute recognizes such steps of reporting child abuse, abandonment, and neglect:
- The signs of abuse, abandonment, or neglect should be reported immediately to the Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) through the telephone- or web-based hotline;
- The department’s hotline staff identifies whether the report is eligible and shall be treated as a legal case of abuse, abandonment, or neglect;
- After the report is received, it is transferred to the appropriate county’s sheriff’s office (§ 39.201, Fla. Stat., 2018).
Mandated Reporter Scenario
A 24-year-old woman is admitted to the Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, Florida. The patient is delivered to the ER with the symptoms of suspected appendicitis and acute pain episodes. After the evaluation, the woman is sent to a hospital room. A few hours later, a man who introduced himself as the patient’s boyfriend comes to the hospital with the patient’s 6-year-old daughter. The daughter has evident signs of child neglect, as she is extremely underweight for her age and height, and the clothes are inappropriate for the weather outside. After twenty minutes at the hospital, the girl starts to faint and is immediately sent to the ER. The nurse evaluates the girl, and the blood tests reveal anemia and severe protein deficiency. The nurse is obliged to report the child neglect immediately, but while studying medical history, she discovers that both mother and daughter are residents of Georgia who came to Miami to visit the mother’s alleged boyfriend.
References
§ 39.201, Florida Statutes. (2018).
§ 39.203, Florida Statutes. (2018).