Nurses' Knowledge and attitude toward child abuse: tool development

ABSTRACT

The aim of the study was to develop a Child Abuse Assessment Tool [CAAT], to assess nurses knowledge and attitude toward child abuse, and to determine differences in knowledge and attitude according to nurses' categories [students, educators, and care providers] and education background [Secondary Nursing school [SNS] and High Institute of Nursing [HIN]]. This study included a stratified sample of 336 nurses. They were distributed into 3 main categories and divided into 6 groups. The study carried out in the working area of the subjects. From the results obtained it was concluded that knowledge level of nurses of different categories regarding child abuse ranged from moderate to high, while their attitude was unfavorable [negative]. Nurses emphasized certain sociodemographic factors influencing child abuse and agreed certain high risk children/ parents and specific forms of abuse