Identification and assessment of intimate partner violence in nurse home visitation.
Susan M Jack, Marilyn Ford-Gilboe, Danielle Davidov and 1 others
PMID 27219286WHAT IT FOUND
Women enrolled in nurse home visiting often did not disclose intimate partner violence on early structured screens, but many told their nurse later during conversations about relationships, safety or parenting when trust, privacy and confidentiality were clear.
Key findings
01In this analysis, 35% of participating clients said they purposefully did not disclose abuse at intake, 10% gave partial disclosure and 5% said the assessment was not completed.
02Clients and nurses reported that IPV disclosures were more likely during general conversations about safety, relationships, parenting or childhood, and during side-by-side activities.
03Nurses and clients said trust, privacy and confidentiality were central to feeling safe to disclose IPV.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
This is a qualitative study of experiences, not a test of whether an IPV assessment method improves safety or disclosure. Clients were selected because they had reported current or past IPV, so the findings may not represent women who never disclosed abuse. The study was conducted in Nurse-Family Partnership sites with registered nurses visiting low-income first-time mothers, so it may not transfer to other home visiting or clinic settings. Some data came from a pilot study, so the findings may reflect early intervention development rather than a stable programme.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that structured IPV screening is ineffective everywhere. The study describes Nurse-Family Partnership home visits and does not test outcomes. It found that early structured screens often missed disclosures in this context, not that asking about IPV should be abandoned.