Two articles in this month’s issue will increase nurses’ awareness of the realities of domestic violence and point to ways they can respond.

A school nurse and women’s advocate.

“Every year, I have mothers of students who are experiencing domestic violence. I see parents and children who are affected by this issue. It’s our job as nurses to see problems and to try to identify causes, trends, and possible solutions.”

The above quote is from Dawn Wilcox, BSN, RN, who was speaking in her capacity as an elementary school nurse, noting that violence against women is a preventable public health issue, one she regularly encounters in her nursing practice.

Wilcox, who I interviewed for this month’s Profile, is also the creator of the United States Femicide Database, accessible on the website of her organization, Women Count USA. It’s the only such catalog of vital details about the women and girls killed by men and boys each year in the United States.

In the article, Wilcox provides practical tips for nurses who are unsure of how to address discrimination, harassment, and violence toward women and girls. For additional information, listen to our discussion on AJN’s Behind the Article podcast.

Asking questions.

In “When ‘Love’ = Death,” which appears in this month’s What I’m Reading column, noted author Theresa Brown reviews Rachel Louise Snyder’s No Visible Bruises: What We Don’t Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us.

Brown details Snyder’s assertion that the scope of this issue is poorly understood, pointing out that this includes nurses.

“In working with patients, nurses may detect signs of intimate partner violence without fully grasping how serious it is,” Brown writes. “For me, this book added invaluable knowledge to my nursing work.”

As she concludes, “I know to ask more questions . . . and not accept facile answers. For women under threat, that added knowledge might make all the difference.”

Both the Profile and What I’m Reading columns can be accessed for free until November 1.