Nurses' knowledge and ability to cope with women who experienced domestic violence

Abstract

Domestic violence is a worldwide problem. It can cause morbidity, disability and mortality. Since it is the nurses that provide care to domestically violated women, it is considered worthwhile to examine 'Nurses knowledge and ability to cope with women who experienced domestic violence '. This research project examined nurses' knowledge with regards to domestic violated women. A quantitative research method was adopted, targeting frontline nurses working in the treatment room of their respective Heath Centres. 60 nurses were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire regarding their knowledge and ability to cope with domestic violated women. 22 nurses out of 60 participated in this study, giving a response rate of 37%. All data was manually analysed and presented in figures and tables. Results showed lack of knowledge among frontline nurses when dealing with domestically violated women. It also showed lack of detection among nurses working in the treatment room of their respective Primary Health Centre. Although the response rate was one of the limitations in this study, a number of recommendations have been identified. These include training, guidelines and protocols to undergraduate nurses. This showed to be essential for nurses and the multi-disciplinary team working in Primary Health Care; however it has been proven that detection of domestic violence will increase. Therefore further research focusing on nurses' detection of violated women should be carried out in the future.