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All nurses should receive basic child protection training, according to new guidelines published by the Royal College of Nursing, writes Sally Gillen.

The guidance, which advises on how to spot signs of abuse and what action to take, stresses that all nurses, regardless of what area they work in, should undertake compulsory training.

The RCN is also calling for the introduction of child protection training to be made a core component of all pre-registration nursing and midwifery education programmes.

Single child health records, including mechanisms for obtaining records of previous admissions, should also be brought in.

The guidance follows Lord Laming’s report into the death of Victoria Climbie, published in January, which listed poor communication among the reasons for services failure to save the eight-year-old.

RCN paediatric adviser Fiona Smith said that “nurses were in an ideal position to spot children at risk of abuse” but added that they needed to “know how to take decisive action”.

“Although we know all NHS Trusts are required to have a designated or named nurse for child protection, we know from RCN members across the UK that provision is still patchy. This has to be rectified immediately so that nurses and other key health workers have access to expert child protection advice and support 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Child protection: every nurse’s responsibility www.rcn.org.uk