New Jersey is a state that requires mandatory reporting, especially for healthcare workers over a number of issues. Some of the aspects that require mandatory reporting include: child abuse, abuse of institutionalized elder, vulnerable adult abuse, client being in danger to self or others, and cases of injuries from firearms, explosives, or weapons (Victims’ Rights Law Center, n.d). Although healthcare workers in particular are supposed to maintain patient confidentiality by refraining from disclosing the identities of their patients or talking about their conditions to third parties, there are some cases where healthcare workers have a responsibility to report to the relevant authorities, especially when they notice something dangerous or harmful.
In regard to reporting, healthcare workers, especially those dealing with patients in person may have little time to report some cases to say, police officers or relevant institutions. In such cases, the healthcare workers first action is to report the cases to the management of the respective healthcare facilities (State of New Jersey Department of Children and Families. New Jersey Law, n.d). Reporting should only be done when the healthcare professional has enough reasons to believe their patients exhibit unusual behavior, or are suffering from harm that has been inflicted deliberately on them by either themselves or other people, and that they need help.
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One scenario a healthcare worker may come across is for example, a patient who presents to the healthcare facility with injuries probably arising from explosives. The patient may try to lie about the cause of the injuries or may refuse to talk about them. In such a scenario, it is important to report because either the patient or their colleagues could be involved in dangerous activities, such as making explosives to be used in terrorist activities. Reporting such a scenario may save other people’s lives, and help bring the people involved to book.
References
State of New Jersey Department of Children and Families. New Jersey Law. https://www.nj.gov/dcf/reporting/links/
Victims’ Rights Law Center. New Jersey. https://www.victimrights.org/sites/default/files/New%20Jersey.pdf
