Readiness of Newly Licensed Registered Nurses to Screen for Domestic Violence

Domestic violence (DV) is a serious public health concern as one in three women (36%) and one in four men (29%) reported having experienced some form of DV, including physical violence, rape and stalking in their lifetime. Given the high prevalence of DV, it is likely that health care providers (HCP), specifically nurses, will encounter both victims and perpetrators seeking routine care or treatment for acute or chronic conditions related to the acts of DV providing the ideal opportunity to screen and educate patients. Low screening rates and identified barriers, there may be lack of consistency between pre-licensure education and the expectation to screen once in practice that requires further exploration. This dissertation includes three manuscripts: a health policy analysis, a literature review, and an exploratory qualitative study. Manuscript one focused on the mandatory reporting laws by exploring the influence of reportable injuries, as defined in the state statues, on the screening behaviors of HCPs. Manuscript two focused on identifying the screening tools designed to detect current or past domestic violence, how accessible they are for HCP to locate, whether the tools possess acceptable validity and reliability, and assess whether the tools are generalizable beyond the heterosexual female victim. Manuscript three consists of a qualitative study that focused on if recently licensed registered nurses screen for DV, how they screen for DV, which patients are screened, their perceptions of current tools, and how pre-licensure education and current workplace training has influenced these screening decisions and behaviors. The findings from these three manuscripts are suggestive of a significant disconnect between pre-licensure education that includes background, long term consequences, and expectations as well as available tools and resources