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- Title
La Sindrome di Munchausen per Procura: un'indagine tra gli infermieri di area pediatrica.
- Authors
Bulli, Giulia; Ciofi, Daniele
- Abstract
The Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (MSBP) is a rare psychopathologic disease that results in an aberrant form of child abuse; its low frequency may be influenced by the difficulty of diagnosis due to the general lack of knowledge of the disease itself. On the basis of previous international studies, a multicenter survey was conducted to assess the degree of knowledge of MSBP among paediatric nurses in three hospitals of Tuscany (Italy). Materials and Methods. Following a similar study conducted in the USA, a questionnaire was administered to the nursing staff of Pediatrics units and of Emergency departments in two general hospitals and one pediatric hospital of the Tuscan Health Service in 2013. Data were collected anonymously and an aggregate statistical analysis was performed. Results. Only 52.7% of the 74 participants stated to know MSBP. The awareness was more frequent in subjects under 30 years, employed in a pediatric hospital and with a bachelor degree. The level of general knowledge is generally low, as the evaluating score was more commonly low (30.8%) or medium-low (30.8%). It is clear to participants that MSBP is a form of child abuse, but the distinction between the different forms of physical child abuse and neglect seems to be less clear. Of the 12 (16.2%) respondents who had direct experience with a case of MSBP, only 4 had been actively involved in the diagnosis, while 25.7% of the total (n=19) claimed to have witnessed suspected cases of MSBP. In 38.9% of cases of MSBP, the first to formulate the diagnostic suspect was the nurse. This finding suggest that nurses may play a key role in the recognition of MSBP, as confirmed almost unanimously (90.5%) by the participants, who, in addition, expressed (95.9%) the need for specific training. Conclusions. The knowledge of MSB is limited among nurses, and the need for training is primarily felt by nurses themselves.
- Subjects
MUNCHAUSEN syndrome by proxy; EDUCATION of nurse practitioners; CHILD abuse; NURSES; NURSING; PEDIATRIC nursing; OCCUPATIONAL roles; DIAGNOSIS
- Publication
Children's Nurses: Italian Journal of Pediatric Nursing Science / Infermieri dei Bambini: Giornale Italiano di Scienze Infermieristiche Pediatriche, 2015, Vol 7, Issue 4, p117
- ISSN
2036-2218
- Publication type
Article