Intimate Partner Violence: Implications for nursing and midwifery practice

1. Intimate Partner Violence: Implications for nursing and midwifery practice Ms Renee Fiolet, A/Prof Natisha Sands, Dr Cate Nagle School of Nursing and Midwifery, Deakin University, Geelong, Victoria Contact Details: Renee Fiolet e:rfiolet@deakin.edu.au 1. The Prevalence of Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) IPV has been acknowledged for many years as an important global health issue that transcends culture, education and socio-economic status (WHO, 2005). According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), as many as 70 per cent of all women in the world experience either physical or sexual violence within their lifetime, and most women know their attacker intimately (WHO, 2005).In Australia, it is estimated that at least one in three women aged above fifteen years has been the victim of violence, many of whom will never report it (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006). A report by released by the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC, 2004) estimates this figure to be closer to 60 per cent. • 2. IPV has Significant Adverse Outcomes for Women • Physical Health • Psychological wellbeing • Social consequences • Reproductive outcomes • Risk taking behaviours WHO, 2005 • 3. The experience of the woman • Women experiencing IPV state that the care they receive is not effective and that: • Health care professionals lack knowledge and demonstrate judgemental attitudes • They are often not screened for IPV • The do not feel safe disclosing Catallo et al. 2013 • 4.IPV: Nursing and midwifery practice • Nurses and midwives are in an ideal position to initiate assessments and provide support for women experiencing IPV however research has demonstrated that nurses and midwives: • Lack the preparation and knowledge to provide care • Do not have the skills to deliver effective care • Lack the necessary behaviours to offer care Gibbons, 2011; Haggblom, Hallberg and Moller, 2005; Olive, 2007 • 5. Implicationsfor research • A study investigating the best evidence for improving the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of nurses and midwives to care for women experiencing Intimate Partner Violence is currently in progress. • For information about this study, please see contact details above. References Australian Bureau of Statistics 2006, Personal Safety Survey: Reissue. Australian Institute of Criminology 2004, Women’s Experiences of Male Violence: findings from the Australian component of the International violence Against women survey. Catallo, C, Jack, SM, Ciliska, D & MacMillan, HL 2013, 'Minimizing the risk of intrusion: a grounded theory of intimate partner violence disclosure in emergency departments', Journal of Advanced Nursing, vol. 69, no. 6, pp. 1366-76. Gibbons, L 2011, ‘Dealing with the effects of domestic violence’, Emergency Nurse, vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 12-17. Haggblom A, Hallberg L, & Moller A 2005, ‘Nursing attitudes and practices towards abused women’, Nursing and Health Sciences, vol 7, pp. 235-242. Olive, P 2007, ‘Care for emergency department patients who have experienced domestic violence: a review of the evidence base’, Journal of Clinical Nursing, vol.16, pp. 1736 – 1748. World Health Organisation 2005, WHO Multi-country Study on Women’s Health and Domestic Violence against Women.