Pre-service education for registered nurses on mandatory reporting of child maltreatment: An integrative review

Problem: The aim of this review is to examine the international literature about pre-service education for registered nurses and identify how it prepares them for their role as mandatory reporters of child maltreatment, to be applied to an Australian context. 

Methods: All peer-reviewed papers about nurses' pre-service education on legally mandated reporting of child maltreatment written in English were eligible. Papers based on nurses working in various settings were included, from both Australian and international sources between 1994 to present. Literature search was performed between June–July 2021, and repeated in July 2023. 18 papers that met the eligibility criteria were included. They included 7 quantitative studies, 3 qualitative studies, 2 mixed-method studies, 5 literature reviews and 1 peer-reviewed discussion paper. 

Results: The resultant papers came from Australia (n = 3), USA (n = 3), Taiwan (n = 3), India (n = 1), Brazil (n = 1), The Philippines (n = 1), Iran (n = 1), Hong Kong (n = 1), Saudi Arabia (n = 1), Korea (n = 1), UK (n = 1), and The Netherlands (n = 1). Publication dates ranged from 2005 to 2020. Key themes identified were insufficiencies in education leading to barriers to nursing making mandatory reports. 

Conclusions: To remove barriers to making mandatory reports, nurses' education on mandatory reporting of child maltreatment should challenge nurses' attitudes and perceptions, be structured and use evidence-based pedagogy, and be delivered preservice. 

Implications: Structured and pedagogically sound preservice education for nurses about mandatory reporting of child maltreatment is recommended. Education should offer opportunities for nurses to challenge their attitudes and preconceptions about child maltreatment.