Professionals working with children, including nurses and midwives, are foundational to effectively safeguarding children from maltreatment. However, little is known about the full nature and scope of nurses' and midwives' roles in safeguarding children in Australia presenting barriers to effective workforce preparation and support. This study reports an inductive analysis of qualitative responses ( = 51 Round 1, = 17 Round 2) from a two-round Delphi study. The Delphi study aimed to build consensus on the nature and scope of nursing and midwifery practice in safeguarding children, and this manuscript presents findings of an inductive analysis of qualitative responses beyond the scope of the Delphi study. Participants were Australian nurses and midwives ( = 51, = 17) from diverse child-focussed settings. Nurses and midwives experienced many factors outside of their control that restricted their capacity to safeguard children. Influences included high workloads, burnout, lack of support, poor collaboration, structural barriers and inaccessible services for children. Nurses and midwives are advocates for children but experienced many factors preventing them from effectively safeguarding children. Future approaches to reducing child maltreatment must be underpinned by support for frontline professionals to promote workforce capacity and sustainability. Despite nurses' and midwives' best intentions, their attempts to prevent and respond to child maltreatment were hampered by systemic factors beyond their control. This study highlighted the need to address broader influences on nursing and midwifery practice to reduce the impacts of child maltreatment and support children to thrive.

中文翻译：

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“我们没有因为我们是谁而受到重视”：澳大利亚护士和助产士对保护儿童的挑战和障碍的看法

包括护士和助产士在内的儿童工作专业人员是有效保护儿童免受虐待的基础。然而，人们对澳大利亚护士和助产士在保护儿童方面的作用的全部性质和范围知之甚少，这给有效的劳动力准备和支持带来了障碍。本研究报告了对两轮德尔菲研究的定性反应（= 51 个第 1 轮，= 17 个第 2 轮）的归纳分析。德尔菲研究旨在就保护儿童的护理和助产实践的性质和范围达成共识，本手稿提出了对超出德尔菲研究范围的定性反应进行归纳分析的结果。参与者是来自不同以儿童为中心的环境的澳大利亚护士和助产士 (= 51, = 17)。护士和助产士经历了许多他们无法控制的因素，限制了他们保护儿童的能力。影响包括工作量大、倦怠、缺乏支持、协作不力、结构性障碍和儿童无法获得服务。护士和助产士是儿童的倡导者，但面临许多因素阻碍他们有效保护儿童。未来减少虐待儿童的方法必须以对一线专业人员的支持为基础，以提高劳动力能力和可持续性。尽管护士和助产士的初衷是好的，但他们预防和应对虐待儿童的努力却受到他们无法控制的系统性因素的阻碍。这项研究强调需要解决对护理和助产士实践的更广泛影响，以减少虐待儿童的影响并支持儿童茁壮成长。