Peer-reviewed article
Violence against children and adolescents by nursing staff: prevalence rates and implications for practice
Ulrike Hoffmann, Vera Clemens, Elisa König, Elmar Brähler, Jörg Michael Fegert ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study surveyed 2,516 German adults about their experiences of maltreatment by nursing staff during childhood hospital stays. About one-third of those who stayed in child psychiatric hospitals reported experiencing maltreatment by nursing staff, compared to 17% in general or pediatric hospitals. The findings suggest that violence by healthcare workers in medical institutions is a systemic problem rather than isolated incidents, particularly in psychiatric settings.
Key points
- 33.3% of 46 respondents who had inpatient stays in child and adolescent psychiatry before age 18 reported maltreatment by nursing staff
- 17.3% of 474 respondents who had inpatient stays in general or pediatric hospitals reported maltreatment by nursing staff
- All forms of maltreatment were significantly more frequent in psychiatric hospitals compared to general and pediatric hospitals
- The study suggests medical facilities bear systemic risks for assault rather than individual cases
- Recommendations include implementing structural measures and developing zero tolerance policies for violence against children and adolescents
Limitations
This is a retrospective survey relying on adult recall of childhood experiences, which may be subject to memory bias and differential recall. The study does not define specific forms of maltreatment or provide details on the severity, frequency, or nature of incidents reported.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: International studies show that child maltreatment is a widespread but often underestimated problem that causes high individual, social and economic costs. Child maltreatment is an important topic for the medical sector as well. On the one hand, affected persons often seek support and help from healthcare professionals, but on the other hand, assaults can also occur in medical institutions by healthcare professionals. Surprisingly, there is hardly any data on the frequency of child maltreatment by healthcare professionals in general and particularly by nursing staff. METHODS: Therefore, in a large representative survey of the German population of 2,516 subjects aged between 14 and 91, the experience of child maltreatment in medical institutions by nursing staff was assessed retrospectively. RESULTS: Of the 46 subjects who had an inpatient stay in a child and adolescent psychiatry before the age of 18, 33.3% reported to have experienced maltreatment by nursing staff, while 17.3% of the 474 persons who had an inpatient stay in general or pediatric hospitals experienced maltreatment by nursing staff. All forms of maltreatment were significantly more frequent in psychiatric compared to general and pediatric hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The results of our representative retrospective survey demonstrate that maltreatment by nursing staff are not rare individual cases, but that medical facilities bear systemic risks for assault. Therefore, it is necessary that all medical institutions, in particular psychiatric hospitals, address this issue. In order to reduce the risk for assaults, it is important not only to implement structural measures but also to develop an attitude that emphasizes zero tolerance for violence against children and adolescents.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
Problem
Violence and maltreatment of children and adolescents by nursing staff in medical institutions
- Intervention
- Retrospective assessment of maltreatment experiences during inpatient stays; recommendations for structural measures and zero-tolerance policies
- Population
- German population aged 14-91 who had inpatient stays as children in medical institutions (46 in psychiatric hospitals, 474 in general/pediatric hospitals)
Key finding
33.3% of those with child psychiatric inpatient stays reported maltreatment by nursing staff