TITLE:
Case Analysis of Nursing College Students on Infant Neglect
AUTHORS:
Yuko Harding, Masako Yano
KEYWORDS:
Infant Neglect, Nursing Students, Case Analysis
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Nursing,
Vol.15 No.4,
April
30,
2025
ABSTRACT: Aims: Child abuse is a health issue that poses high health risks and is attracting attention as a health problem that threatens children’s human rights and safety. In Japan, local governments are required by the Child Welfare Act and the Maternal and Child Health Act to prevent and detect abuse early. The number of consultations is increasing, and specialized responses are required. In nursing education, topics related to child abuse are included in the curriculum. However, there is no data on case analysis of infant neglect for nursing students. This study aims to analyze the responses and perspectives of nursing students at A University regarding a case of infant neglect presented as a class survey to gain insights to guide future directions in nursing education. Methods: A survey regarding cases of infant neglect was conducted among 63 second-year nursing students at A Comprehensive University. The survey was administered using Microsoft Forms and sent to the entire class simultaneously, allowing students to respond anonymously. The study was primarily qualitative, using the KJ method, with some quantitative analysis as a supplement. The content of the task is about the case where a 30-year-old mother who killed her baby because of leaving her baby alone at home for 16 hours was arrested on suspicion of abuse. The questions are: (Q1) Why did the mother leave the baby alone? (Q2) What could a nurse have done to prevent the incident? (Q3) What kind of words could a nurse offer the mother now? Participants were also asked whether their mothers’ behavior was abusive. Results: Regarding Q1, the concepts were classified into lack of affection, childcare stress, carelessness in childcare, escape from childcare, lack of awareness of childcare, childcare fatigue, financial difficulties, and personal priority. Regarding Q2, the concept is classified into childcare environment analysis, childcare guidance, childcare consultation, family support, home visits, medical examination observation, social resource introduction, understanding infant characteristics, and listening to anxiety/ worries. Q3 was categorized into asking, empathy, listening, reprimand, introspection, and questioning. All participants (63/63) reported that the mother’s actions in this case were abuse. Conclusion: We conducted a case analysis of infant neglect by nursing students. In order to prevent infant neglect, nursing students need to learn how to observe mothers and children and what kind of care should be given to mothers and children before going to clinical practice. With the increasing number of consultations regarding infant neglect in Japan, it is an issue to deepen the insight into infant neglect and its prevention in nursing education. Nursing students felt empathy and reprimand toward the mother. It is important to provide specific methods and support systems for nursing students to manage the conflict between these feelings.