• To refresh your knowledge of the various types of bruises in children and their potential causes
• To recognise the circumstances where bruising might be suspicious and potentially a result of child physical abuse
• To understand the actions that nurses need to take if they encounter bruising in a child
Bruises are commonly seen in children and are usually easily explained by play or accidents. However, bruises are also common in children who have been physically abused. For this reason, nurses must determine if the reasons for bruising that are given by parents or carers provide a suitable explanation. This will in part depend on the veracity of the reasons given, as well as the type of bruising, its location and any pattern to the bruising. This article explains how nurses can identify various types of bruises and how these should be documented. The author also details how nurses should raise any suspicion of child physical abuse with the child, parents or carers, and how nurses can escalate any concerns.
Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2023.e12120
Peer reviewThis article has been subject to external double-blind peer review and checked for plagiarism using automated software
Correspondence Conflict of interestNone declared
Peel M (2023) Recognising and responding to bruising in children. Nursing Standard. doi: 10.7748/ns.2023.e12120
Published online: 24 July 2023
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