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Shaken baby syndrome child abuse essay
Shaken baby syndrome child abuse essay
A essay about shaken baby syndrome
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Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) is an incident that will forever change and affect the victimized child dramatically. Most normal children are able to develop normally without deficits in areas of occupations or performance skills, but a child with SBS may never be the same. The lasting effects of Shaken Baby Syndrome impact a child’s life in areas of occupations such as social participation, play, and education.
Characteristics of Shaken Baby Syndrome
Etiology
Shaken Baby Syndrome is, “a condition of whiplash-type injuries, ranging from bruises on the arms and trunk to retinal hemorrhages or convulsions, as observed in infants and children who have been violently shake; a form of child abuse that often results in intracranial bleeding from tearing of cerebral blood vessels” (Jacobs & Jacobs, 2004, p. 214).
Signs/Symptoms
There are numerous signs and symptoms that characterize Shaken Baby Syndrome such as extreme irritability, difficulty staying awake, breathing problems, poor eating, tremors, vomiting, pale or bluish color, seizures, paralysis, and coma (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2011). The severity of symptoms is dependent on the severity of shaking inflicted upon the child. A hallmark symbol of SBS could be hemorrhages in the retinas of the eyes (Blackman, 1990, p. 70) or absence of external injuries (Miehl, 2005, p. 113).
Risk Factors
Risk factors involve the child itself and the parent or caretaker. Risk factors for the child consist of male gender, history of colic, prematurity, low birth weight, drug/nicotine/alcohol exposure, or withdrawal syndrome, special needs or medically fragile and babies with poor bonding to caregivers (Meskauskas, Beaton, & Meservey, 2009, p. 326). Young parental age, unstable family environment, low soc...
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Miehl, N. (2005). Shaken baby syndrome. Journal of Forensic Nursing 1(3), 111-117. Retrieved from http://web.a.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.parkland.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=5afd0ec9-9244-4874-888f-58b9a8746292%40sessionmgr4004&hid=4214
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Picture yourself with a brand new child, Holding it in your arms, comforting it, and putting it back to rest in its crib. Then you go about your day at home when all of a sudden the baby starts to cry very loud and doesn't stop. You start getting frustrated so you walk to where the baby is at and start to shake it so it will be quiet. After about ten seconds it calms down, and then falls asleep again. The baby doesn't cry again for a long time so you go back to check on it about two hours later. You notice the baby isn't moving, breathing, or showing any signs of life. What you don't know is that you just committed a murder called Shaken Baby Syndrome. Another term that is close to Shaken Baby Syndrome that I will be discussing in my paper is Abusive Head Trauma.
Reviewing the 12 Core Concepts of the National Child Trauma Stress Network, James is suffering from three of the 12 concepts. Number 1 core concept, Traumatic experience are inherently complex. Traumatic experiences are inherently complex no experience are the same varying degrees of objective life threat, physical violation, witnessing of an injury or death. The victim perceives their surroundings and decides what is best for them now safety and self-protection. Number 4 core concept, A child or adolescent can exhibit an extensive range of reactions to suffering and loss. Number 9 core concept, the developmental neurobiology triggers a youth’s reactions to traumatic experience. In this paper, we will be covering another trauma that affects the social worker or case worker who works on these cases of
Ward, H. et al, 2012. Safeguarding babies and very young children from abuse and neglect. London: Jessica Kingsley Publishers. P 205.
Though occupation usually refers to a job, a person’s occupation is initially determined by what their everyday life consists of. When a person becomes incapable of performing the tasks that they are expected to do in their everyday life due to developmental delays, physical injury, or psychological problems they are often referred to an occupational therapist. Occupational therapists, or OTs, usually have occupational therapy assistants, often called OTAs. The OT gives the OTA a set of objectives to help the patient achieve. Since people go through numerous occupations during the course of their lives, OT’s and OTA’s prov...
Sacket et al, cited in, Duncan, E,A,S, (2006) Foundtions for practice in Occupational Therapy, 4th edition, Elsevier Ltd.
Twenty five to thirty percent of babies shaken die (National Shaken Baby Syndrome). Immediate medical attention can help reduce the impact of shaking, but many children are left with permanent damage from the shaking. The treatment of survivors falls into 3 major categories. Those categories are medical, behavioral, and educational. In addition to medical care, children may need speech and language therapy, vision therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and special education services. (Showers, 1997) Many incidents of Shaken Baby Syndrome are not reported out of fear. It is important to seek immediate and early medical attention. Serious complications and even death can be avoided.
Shaken baby syndrome or SBS according to google is, “an injury to a baby caused by being shaken violently and repeatedly.” 80% of babies who have SBS suffer from lifelong disabilities. These disabilities include speech and learning disabilities, seizures, hearing loss, and sometimes can result in death. Shaken baby syndrome is very dangerous, and can be avoided. Parents should be informed on the long lasting effects of shaken baby syndrome. There are designated classes to take, so people can be aware of the effects of SBS and what to do when a baby has been shook. Even if you’re not a parent, it is still encouraged for any caregiver or babysitter, or anyone who deals with infants on a daily basis, to take this class to be aware. Most times SBS occurs when a baby is 6 months or younger.
"Occupational Therapy." KidsHealth. Ed. Wendy Harron. The Nemours Foundation, 01 July 2010. Web. 01 Mar. 2014 .
Wilhelmina Hicks and Adrian Thomas rushed their four-month-old infant, Matthew Hicks, to a Troy, New York hospital after noticing the child’s unresponsiveness on 21 September 2008. The child later transferred to Albany Medical Center’s PICU for treatment for septic shock. Though the child’s physical and medical status indicated septic shock, a doctor contacted child protective authorities, suspecting blunt force trauma head injuries. Authorities then interrogated the child’s parents.
Prevention, U. D. (2008). A Journalist’s “Five Ws”. Retrieved May 18, 2013, from A Journalist’s Guide to Shaken Baby Syndrome:A Preventable Tragedy: http://www.cdc.gov/concussion/pdf/sbs_media_guide_508_optimized-a.pdf
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Not only are these children affected for the rest of their lives, but the offender, in many countries, will face criminal charges for having shaken the child. Since prevention is better than cure, it is imperative that people are educated about SBS via various platforms. Furthermore, high-risk parents, and all parents in general, should have great support from family and close friends to assist them in times when they are overwhelmed. This is only natural given the demanding nature of raising children. Notwithstanding this truth, SBS is preventable and no one should ever shake a baby.
Children experience decreased development in the left brain when traumatic events occur (Network, n.d.). Imagine being a child and growing up with these types of events occurring. A traumatic event in a child’s life can cause a child to experience a long lasting negative effect. Life events are happening everywhere and more often in the lives of children (Understanding Child Traumatic Stress, n.d.). Trauma can cause them to do three things. First, they try to see what the danger is and how serious it is. Secondly there are strong emotional and physical reactions. Thirdly they attempt to come up with what to do that can help them with the danger. Traumatic events can cause a child to develop differently, which effects the young child stage,
Child abuse is a problem that affects the well-being of children, and it is something that can be avoided with the proper detection and implementation of interventions (Sanders Jordan & Hatfield Steelman, 2015). Harris discussed bruises and disclosed that detected abuse is relevant to a nurse working with families because they can assess for signs such as suspicious bruising, areas in which this occur include the back, genitals, abdomen, cheeks, and neck (2015). The abuse they experience can result in them obtaining the most mental health problem, compared to other children who do not encounter abuse (Ben-David, 2016). Caneira, & Myrick discussed in their journal that child abuse is important to detect as soon as possible because it can go on to affect them later in life, this is the case with pregnant women who experience post traumatic stress disorder from childhood abuse and end up resulting in adverse perinatal outcomes due to bad self care behaviours (2015). Using screening techniques will reduce the amount of children who experience abuse and go unrecognized. Using these techniques, addition resources, and establishing a therapeutic relationship with the patients, will help in minimizing the amount of child abuse (Caneira, & Myrick, 2015). Child abuse is relevant to health care professionals working with families and should be routinely assessed to minimize the