“One Day He Breaks Your Arm, and Then . . .”: How Nurses Can Help Rural Survivors of Intimate Partner Violence
Photo by Damien Gadal, via Flickr.
By Sylvia Foley, AJN senior editor
“Imagine for a moment that your husband or boyfriend is regularly assaulting you, and often tells you that ‘nobody cares.’ Now imagine that you live in an isolated rural community. The nearest health care services are 75 miles away—and you can’t get there because he removes the car battery to keep you from driving . . . One day he breaks your arm, and then he drives you to that distant hospital. Will the nurses recognize what is happening? Will there be a chance for you to tell them?”
In this month’s CE feature, “Intimate Partner Violence in Rural U.S. Areas: What Every Nurse Should Know,” Amanda Dudgeon and Tracy Evanson explain why it’s important for nurses in all practice settings to understand the particular issues that rural survivors face and how to address them. (Most, though not all, victims of intimate partner violence are women; this article focuses primarily on female survivors.) Here’s a brief overview.
Intimate partner violence is a major health care issue, affecting nearly 6% of U.S. women annually. Multiple mental and physical health problems are associated with intimate partner violence, and billions of health care dollars are spent in trying to address the consequences. Although prevalence rates of intimate partner violence are roughly the same in rural and nonrural areas, rural survivors face distinct barriers in obtaining help and services. Because rural […]
