Female nurses’ personal exposure and responses to hypothetical case scenarios on domestic violence in Ekurhuleni Health District
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Date
2021
Authors
Akhetuamen, Pius
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Abstract
Background: Domestic violence remains a major concern. It is even more a cause for concern when nurses required to manage patients are victims of domestic violence themselves due to its high prevalence in society. Many studies have been conducted on the effects and impact of domestic violence on nurses expected to manage victims of domestic violence in urban hospital settings. However, there is a paucity of studies in peri-urban settings such as the Ekurhuleni health district looking at the prevalence of domestic violence among PHC trained nurses and their responses to hypothetical case scenarios on domestic violence.
Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study of responses to self- administered hypothetical patient scenarios using convenience sampling. There were two hypothetical patient scenarios using a vignette and a demographic questionnaire. The qualitative part comprised of hypothetical case scenarios on domestic violence while the quantitative section consisted of demographic information of the nurses participating as well as screening information about current or previous experience of domestic violence. Results: A total of 78 PHC nurses completed the questionnaires. The prevalence of domestic violence among the participants was 35%. The majority were married and/or living with their partners and IsiZulu speaking. On average they had 15 years of experience in nursing with a median age of 40 years (Table 1). The group of nurses aged 35years and younger were more likely to disclose being survivors of domestic violence (OR 2.14; 95% CI 0.77-5.96). This group was also 2.68 times more likely to claim having received training in management of domestic violence (OR 2.68; 95% CI 0.93-7.76). Those exposed to domestic violence within this age group were less likely to suggest the correct management options for the hypothetical patient scenarios and were also less likely to share a household with a partner.
Conclusion: This study highlights that domestic violence is common among nurses in Ekurhuleni health district. It also suggests that even when nurses received training in the management of domestic violence, it did not improve the likelihood of appropriate management for the survivors. If the Patient Scenario suggested trauma, it was more likely for nurses to consider domestic violence
Description
A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Medicine (in Family Medicine), 2021