"There is one universal truth, applicable to all countries, cultures and communities: violence against women is never acceptable, never excusable, never tolerable”
(United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon).
Bradbury-Jones and Clark (2016) argue that nurses need to 'use every interaction with patients to detect domestic violence and abuse'. However in a more recent study, Bradbury-Jones, Clark and Taylor (2017) report that, although nurses play a key role in responding to domestic abuse, their responses were often inappropriate or unhelpful. Including: trivialising or ignoring the abuse; ineffectively responding due to a lack of time, privacy or confidence; being frightened of offending women; or as a consequences of their own experience of being abused.
References
Bradbury-Jones, C. & Clark, M.T. (2016) How to address domestic violence and abuse. Nursing Times, online issue, 12, 1-4.
Bradbury-Jones, C., Clark, M.T. & Taylor, J. (2017) Abused women’s experiences of a primary care identification and referral intervention: A case study analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing. DOI: 10.1111/jan.13250
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In Scotland the government has updated and strengthened existing legislation, policy and strategies aimed at 'preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls' (Scottish Government, 2016); strengthened the powers of the Police to charge perpetrators of abuse; and equip the whole health workforce with strategies in how to respond to disclosure and specific training for staff who work directly with women and girls.
Scottish Government (2016). Equally safe: Scotland’s strategy for preventing and eradicating violence against women and girls. Edinburgh; Available at https://www.gov.scot/policies/violence-against-women-and-girls/equally-safe-strategy/
Scottish Government (2018). Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 Available at https://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2018/5/contents/enacted
NHS Scotland (2019). Domestic Abuse. What health workers need to know about gender-based violence. Available at https://www.healthscotland.scot/media/2099/gbv-domestic-abuse-march2019.pdf
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What do you think? Want to have your say?
Are nurses skilled enough to identify and support women subjected to domestic violence?
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