Hello everyone, I wanted to hear your thoughts on a scenario. An adult victim of domestic violence presents to the ER. The adult victim discloses assault with a child witnessing the event. The adult victim is not the parent/guardian of the child. The forensic nurse collects the information of the assailant, the information of the child, and the address where the assault occurred. Appropriate processes are followed and the victim is discharged to a shelter with a safety plan. The forensic nurse, as a mandated reporter, reports the incident to Child Protective Services. The forensic nurse provides the name of the assailant, the name of the child, and details regarding the case as pertaining to safety issues r/t the child. When reporting, should the forensic nurse share the name of the victim? Is the victims name considered protective health information, given it was not the child who experienced the assault but witnessed the assault. Is the victims name protected from disclosure given they are not the one reporting the witnessed assault? Could releasing this information endanger the victim (given that CPS could disclose details of the report made?)
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