What is your state law regarding parental notification?

A father of a 17-year-old wants to know whether his child is sexually active. What will you tell him? What if the child is 14 years old? What if the child is 11 years old? What is your state law regarding parental notification?Approaches to Health Management in Pediatric CareThe autonomous right of a minor to decide on the type of care to receive or not to receive typically are transferable to the parent in a normal setting. As such, this has become a significant issue in the contemporary setting where children tend to be sexually active at an early age frequenting the parents to seek ways to gains such knowledge to offer better protection from associated risks such as teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (Abma & Martinez, 2017).As such, if a Nurse Practitioner finds himself or herself in a situation whereby a father present with a 17-year-old child or 14-year-old child or an 11-year-old child to gain knowledge on whether such a patient is sexually active, it would be viable to tell him that the only way to come up with such a finding would involve performing a pelvic exam (Abma & Martinez, 2017). Similarly, owing to the gynecological provision that a pelvic exam would be performed either when the patient presents with such symptoms as vaginal discharge or when the patient has attained the age of 21 years.Because the patient in question is younger than 17 years, a pelvic examination would not be recommendable. Conversely, if the patient would be presenting with such symptoms as pelvic pain or vaginal discharge, it would be viable to conduct the examination and provide the findings to the father, only at the patient’s consent (Rodger et al., 2017). However, without such symptoms, even the principle of autonomy would not be sufficient to overturn the gynecological provision that such a procedure should only be performed under the two conditions. Moreover, according to the legal provision by most states, the patient would hold the sole right to disclose or to fail to disclose the findings to the father.Such a provision is upheld by the laws of the State of Florida. In this state, having a child of 17 years or younger does not accord the parent to gain access to the patient’s private and confidential information, especially if it pertains to reproductive health care. According to the provisions of the laws of the State, teenagers do not need their parents’ permission to seek care services on reproductive health (Myers & Ladd, 2020). As such, because the same law allows them to seek such care without any parental consent, the law also gives them the right to withhold findings in relation to such visits from their parents unless they decide to share. As such, if a minor presents with gynecological symptoms that warrant a pelvic examination and the Nurse Practitioner finds out that they are sexually active, it would be a complete violation of the laws of the State of Florida if the Nurse Practitioner shares such information with the parents.In conclusion, In Florida, having a child of 17 years or younger does not accord the parent to gain access to the patient’s private and confidential information, especially if it pertains to reproductive health care. ReferencesAbma, J. C., & Martinez, G. M. (2017). Sexual activity and contraceptive use among teenagers in the United States, 2011-2015. National health statistics reports, (104), 1-23. https://doi/full/10.1056/ge610187Myers, C., & Ladd, D. (2020). Did parental involvement laws grow teeth? The effects of state restrictions on minors’ access to abortion. Journal of Health Economics, 71, 102302. Doi: 10.1001/nrc.2017.288Rodger, A. J., Cambiano, V., Bruun, T., Vernazza, P., Collins, S., Van Lunzen, J., … & Asboe, D. (2016). Sexual activity without condoms and the risk of HIV transmission is zero different couples when the HIV-positive partner is using suppressive antiretroviral therapy. Jama, 316(2), 171-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(17)30058-2