How Should Clinicians and Students Cope With Secondary Trauma When Caring for Children Traumatized by Abuse or Neglect?

When health care professionals encounter child abuse and neglect, they can experience a range of emotions, such as anger, sadness, and frustration. Such feelings can cloud judgment, compromise care, or even undermine one's capacity to complete evaluation of a child. This article discusses key e...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:AMA journal of ethics 2023-02, Vol.25 (2), p.E109-115
Main Authors: Bennett, Colleen E, Christian, Cindy W
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child
Child Abuse
Compassion Fatigue
Emotions
Empathy
Humans
Students
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Summary:When health care professionals encounter child abuse and neglect, they can experience a range of emotions, such as anger, sadness, and frustration. Such feelings can cloud judgment, compromise care, or even undermine one's capacity to complete evaluation of a child. This article discusses key ethical values of honesty, objectivity, compassion, professionalism, respect for persons, and justice, which can be used to guide one's approaches to navigating secondary trauma during and after clinical interactions with children who have suffered abuse or neglect. Strategies for coping with intense feelings, especially during interactions with abused and neglected children's families, are also offered herein.
ISSN:2376-6980
2376-6980
DOI:10.1001/amajethics.2023.109