The document discusses signs of domestic violence and abuse that healthcare professionals should look out for and appropriately report. It notes that any injuries like bruises, fractures, or signs of being restrained should not be taken lightly and require investigation. If a patient comes in with wounds that indicate abuse, the hospital should utilize psychiatrists, social workers, and policies to handle the situation before contacting police, who would then investigate and prosecute cases of domestic violence. Healthcare workers are obligated to accurately document any concerning signs they observe that could be used as evidence to protect patients.

1. Reply 1
Any domestic violence, child abuse, or elder abuse. Should be
notated. In the state of New Jersey, the Department of Justice
defines domestic violence, or intimate partner violence, as a
pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by
one partner to gain or maintain power and control over another
intimate partner. Domestic violence can be physical, sexual,
emotional, economic, or psychological actions or threats of
actions that influence another person. This includes any
behaviors that intimidate, manipulate, humiliate, isolate,
frighten, terrorize, coerce, threaten, blame, hurt, injure, or
wound someone. Domestic violence can happen to anyone
regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender.
Domestic violence affects people of all socioeconomic
backgrounds and education levels. Domestic violence occurs in
both opposite-sex and same-sex relationships and can happen to
intimate partners who are married, living together, or dating.
All nursing facilities, are required to notate and report first
hand, any kind of the injuries, bruises, abuse, neglect,
mistreatment and any inappropriate signs showing or proving
that the patient has been put in rough circumstances. They have
a legal obligation to inform the police also, when they notice or
suspect any such situation. Any sprains, fractures, cuts and
bruises should not be taken any lightly. The nursing
professionals should also carefully administer the fearful
behavior a patient my show when talking. Specially when the
person accompanying is there and is not giving privacy and
trying to dictate all the questions and answers and also some
times showing signs of fear and pushing away things o showing
signs to pull / push the patient, or cutting through the

2. conversation. Many a times the accomplice will also try to be
rough and rude and yell and scream and try to walk out and
away with the patient, dragging the patient with him. The first
and foremost duty of the health care professional is to make the
situation calm and not to show any signs of suspicion. Carefully
try to engage them and call for help without endangering the
patient’s life or health. Or ask for private check if possible
where the patient can be talk without any fear. The health care
professionals should insist on accurate and comprehensive notes
as it can help to be a good evidence which can be used to
protect patient and support the legal proceedings.
It’s a no brainer for a hospital or a nursing facility, that If a
patient comes in with a variety of wound patterns that show an
abuse context it should take advantage of all the options it has
like psychiatrist on call or a social worker on call, before
contacting police. It is important that hospitals have policies
that are well written and detailed enough so that the staff knows
how to handle these cases. Once the staff calls the police the
state law takes over ad they will investigate domestic violence
and prosecute if appropriate.
Reference: -
https://www.njsp.org/division/operations/domestic-violence-
info.shtml
Reply 2

3. Some of the characterictis that would lead a provider to supect
abuse or warning signs of abuse are clues that something is
happening in the life of the person that should be looked into.
Some indicators are obvious signs of abuse. Other indicators are
subtle, requiring careful observation. In some situations abuse
may not be occurring at all. It is important to think about the
person and any health or behavioral issues they have. Some
people may get injured more easily due to health reasons or
aging. For example, some medications and some health
problems like hemophilia (where the blood clots slowly) can
cause easy bruising. Some people may engage in self-injurious
behaviors that cause injuries that look like abuse. Even if you
discover that a person has a health or behavioral issue that
might be the cause of the injury, it is still important to
investigate to rule out abuse as the cause. It is important to put
aside any biases that you might have that care providers would
not abuse a person with a disability that they support. As you
interact with someone with a developmental disability, you
should pay close attention to any changes in how that person
looks or acts. A sudden or gradual change in appearance or
behavior can be an indicator that abuse or neglect has occurred
(or may still be happening.) Some of the signs are
Bruising on the face or trunk, as most accidental elderly
bruising occurs on limbs and extremities
Broken bones, sprains, or serious injury, especially without a
reported fall
Signs of being restrained, like strap or rope marks
Sudden changes in behavior
Direct reports of physical abuse from the elderly victim

4. Women who have been assaulted by their partner generally have
worse heath than other women. Health issues include chronic
problems with digestion, stomach, kidney and bladder function
and headaches, poorer pregnancy outcomes and lower
birthweight babies.
Recognition by nurses about the extent of these health
consequences is central to their commitment to working with
women to address the underlying cause of poor health. If nurses
think a woman in their care may be experiencing domestic
violence, the detail of questioning will depend on how well they
know the woman and what indicators they have observed.
Nurses should begin with broad questions, such as: 'How are
things at home?' 'How are you and your partner relating?' 'Is
there anything else happening that may be affecting your
health?' Specific questions linked to clinical observations could
include. 'You seem very anxious and nervous. Is everything all
right at home?' 'When I see injuries like this, I wonder if
someone could have hurt you?' 'Is there anything else that we
haven't talked about that might be contributing to this
condition?'
If you suspect that a child you know is being abused, you can
take one or more of the following actions:Look out for signs of
child abuse. If you have the feeling that something is going on,
you might well be right. You are probably not the only one who
has noticed something, but you might be the first person to do
something about it. Talk to the child or to the child’s parents.
Understand that child abuse is often the result of desperation.
You can help just by being there for the family. Or by offering
the child a listening ear. In my facility I will report abuse to my
supervisor who then get social worker then psych that would
report to the compliant officer who will then take it forward to
the state.

5. reference
https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com
/login.