Woman Abuse: Screening, Identification and Initial Response
Purpose and scope
The overall purpose of this guideline is to facilitate routine universal screening for woman abuse by nurses in all practice settings.
The scope of this guideline is on screening women for intimate partner abuse. The guideline includes all women in intimate relationships, 12 years of age or older and identifies:
- who should do the screening,
- what should be included in screening, and
- how and under what circumstances screening should occur
Please see also the supplement to this guideline which provides updated recommendations.
Main guideline (including 2012 supplement):
Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. (2005). Woman abuse: Screening, identification and initial response. Toronto, Canada: Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.
Recommendations
Do you want to learn about and implement the most- up-to-date evidence-based recommendations on this topic with your colleagues? Download and share the full best practice guideline (BPG), Woman Abuse: Screening, Identification and Initial Response.
See below for a snapshot of the recommendations from this BPG. We strongly suggest you review the full BPG before implementing the recommendations and good practice statements. The BPG also includes further resources to support implementation and evaluation.
Recommendation 1.0: Nurses implement routine universal screening for woman abuse [intimate partner violence] in all health care settings.
Recommendation 2.0: Routine universal screening be implemented for all females 12 years of age and older.
Recommendation 3.0: Nurses foster an environment that facilitates disclosure. This necessitates that nurses:
- ask about woman abuse/intimate partner violence; and
- respond to disclosure
Recommendation 4.0: Nurses develop screening strategies and initial responses that reflect the needs of all women taking into account differences based on culture, race, ethnicity, class, religious/spiritual beliefs, age, ability and/or sexual orientation.
Recommendation 5.0: Nurses use reflective practice to examine how their own beliefs, values, and experiences influence the practice of screening.
Recommendation 6.0: Nurses know what to document when screening for and responding to abuse.
Recommendation 7.0: Nurses know their legal obligations when a disclosure of abuse is made.
Recommendation 8.0: Mandatory educational programs in the workplace be designed to:
- increase nurses’ knowledge and skills; and
- foster awareness and sensitivity about woman abuse.
Recommendation 9.0: All nursing curricula incorporate content on woman abuse in a III systematic manner.
Recommendation 10.0: Health care organizations develop policies and procedures that effective routine universal screening for and initial response to woman abuse.
Recommendation 11.0: Health care organizations work with the community to improve collaboration and integration of service between sectors.
Recommendation 12.0: Nursing best practice guidelines can be successfully implemented only where there are adequate planning, resources, organizational and administrative support, as well as appropriate facilitation. Organizations may wish to develop a plan for implementation that includes:
- An assessment of organizational readiness and barriers to education.
- Involvement of all members (whether in a direct or indirect supportive function) who will contribute to the implementation process.
- Dedication of a qualified individual to provide the support needed for the education and implementation process.
- Ongoing opportunities for discussion and education to reinforce the importance of best practices.
- Opportunities for reflection on personal and organizational experience in implementing guidelines.
Disclaimer: These guidelines are not binding for nurses, other health providers or the organizations that employ them. The use of these guidelines should be flexible and based on individual needs and local circumstances. They constitute neither a liability nor discharge from liability. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the contents at the time of publication, neither the authors nor the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO) gives any guarantee as to the accuracy of the information contained in them or accepts any liability with respect to loss, damage, injury or expense arising from any such errors or omission in the contents of this work.
Revision status
Current edition published: March 2005 with May 2012 supplement
About the next edition:
The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is developing a second edition of this best practice guideline (BPG), with the working title Intimate Partner Violence. The anticipated publication date is 2025.
This new edition will revise the previous edition BPG:
- Woman abuse: Screening, identification and initial response (2005 with 2012 supplement)
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