Bridge to safety: Reducing domestic violence through awareness and education

Domestic violence does not discriminate; it affects people of all ages, races, educational, and socioeconomic status. One out of three women seen for violence-related injuries in the emergency department know their attacker. Healthy People 2010 recognizes domestic violence as a public health issue in the United States, and includes Injury and Violence Prevention as a key health indicator. In Healthy People 2010, Focus Area number fifteen targets injury and violence prevention. Objective 15-34 “reduce the rate of physical assault by current or former intimate partners” addresses this public health concern. This poster presentation describes two semesters of public health nursing practice by a graduate student concerning domestic violence. The graduate student performed a community assessment in an urban area in southeastern Pennsylvania. The assessment revealed that domestic violence was prevalent in this community with 90,000 emergency calls annually related to domestic violence in the surrounding neighborhoods. It is imperative that emergency department nurses routinely screen patients for signs of domestic abuse. This graduate student was aware that the local community hospital orientation program for novice emergency department nurses did not include a thorough domestic violence screening protocol and/or referral process. The program “Bridge to Safety” was designed to create a safety net for victims of domestic abuse through screening, intervention, and educational programs offered to the emergency department nurses in this urban setting. The program planning and implementation utilized the PRECEDE-PROCEDE model. “Bridge to Safety” is an educational program that emphasizes systematic triage assessment and screening of victims that may present in the emergency department with domestic abuse issues. The “Bridge to Safety” triage course model and related curriculum can be easily replicated by other nurses in emergency departments nationwide. The overall objective for this project is to bridge emergency department nurses with the community to reduce domestic violence by improving awareness and education.