A difficult decision : nurses´ experiences of reporting when child maltreatment is suspected

Background Child maltreatment has increased over the past years. There is no direct relation-ship between child maltreatment and the actual living condition of the children. All children should be protected against all types of physical, mental and sexual abuse. It is of great im-portance that nurses have knowledge of how to report when they suspected child maltreatment. Aim The aim was to describe nurses´ experiences of reporting when child maltreatment is sus-pected. Methods A method to contribute to evidence-based nursing with ground in analysis of qualita-tive research was performed. In this study nine qualitative articles were analyzed. Results From the analysis three main themes were identified; a difficult task, need of support and create a holistic view of children. Seven subthemes were identified; manage their own lack of knowledge, uncertainty and fear, trust their judgment and courage to act,protection of children's safety and well-being, support from colleagues and management, interact with child protection services, strengthen trust with related parents of the child and environment affecting children.Conclusion Conclusions that can be deduced from this study are to highlight the need for support and knowledge of how a report is conducted. Consequences to not report child maltreat-ment is described in this study as well as which benefits a report of child maltreatment may give for both children and close relatives