Child Abuse Assessment: Principles, Tools and Best Practices
This presentation provides a comprehensive approach to the assessment of pediatric patients who have experienced physical abuse, with a specific focus on recognizing intentional burn injuries in non‑verbal children. Through a structured review of body systems and detailed case‑based scenarios, participants will learn to identify key injury patterns, clinical red flags, and behavioral indicators that differentiate accidental injuries from inflicted trauma. Special emphasis is placed on evaluating non‑verbal pediatric patients, who cannot describe the mechanism of injury, making objective assessment and pattern recognition essential for accurate diagnosis and timely intervention.
Target Audience
Nurses, case managers and Social Workers
Learning Objectives
Accurately identify key burn patterns associated with intentional injury in non‑verbal pediatric patients, including immersion, contact, and patterned burns.
Perform a systematic body‑system assessment to recognize additional signs of physical abuse that may accompany burn injuries in infants and young children.
Differentiate accidental from inflicted burn injuries.
Michelle Clayton MD, MPH,FAAP
Chief, Division of Child Advocacy
Program Director, Child Abuse Pediatric Fellowship
In support of improving patient care, the University of Pittsburgh is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
The maximum number of hours awarded for this Continuing Nursing Education activity is 1.00 contact hours.
Other health care professionals will receive a certificate of attendance confirming the number of contact hours commensurate with the extent of participation in this activity. 
Available Credit
- 1.00 ANCCUPMC Provider Unit is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation
- 1.00 Attendance

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