Groote Schuur Hospital

Background: Family violence is one of the major public health problems in South Africa and worldwide (WHO 2002). However, it is not yet viewed as an important curricular topic in nurs-ing education to warrant dedicated clinical teaching and learning. Where it is addressed in the curriculum, it is usually at theoretical level, with few or no opportunities for clinical learning experiences. Objectives: This descriptive qualitative case study was conducted to describe how family vio-lence was integrated into the undergraduate nursing curriculum by using a shelter as a clinical learning setting. Methods: Participant observation, document review and interviews were used as data collec-tion methods. The following themes were identified from data analysis: commitment to partner-ships between the nursing school and the shelter, commitment to service learning, provision of a conducive climate for learning, enabling students to learn how to deal with role conflict, sharing of students ’ personal experiences of intimate partner violence or family violence, learning to deal with prejudicial attitudes and refraining from blaming battered women