Review - (2022) Volume 12, Issue 5
In many areas throughout the world, domestic and family violence is a substantial and rising public health hazard. Nurses are frequently the initial and, in some cases, the only point of contact for people seeking treatment after DFV occurrences and are thus ideally positioned to identify and help these vulnerable individuals. The purpose of this scoping review is to look at English-language studies of healthcare delivered by nurses in primary care settings to victims of domestic and family abuse.
Domestic violence • Primary healthcare • COVID-19 • Nurses
A scoping evaluation of the healthcare delivered by nurses in primary health care settings to those experiencing Domestic and Family Violence (DFV) is presented in this publication. The current coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) and the necessity to socially separate and isolate at home are thought to have exacerbated the occurrence of DFV. Domestic and family abuse victims have access to healthcare in both hospital and primary care settings. According to this article, nurses are typically the initial, and often the only, point of contact with vulnerable patients in primary health care settings. Primary healthcare settings, unlike emergency and hospital settings, provide routine treatment for individuals and families over long periods of time, which presents an opportunity for nurses to improve access to care. This scoping study analyses the healthcare delivered by nurses to people suffering from DFV in primary care settings in order to better understand the role of nursing.
Primary healthcare
The World Health Organization (WHO, 2018) defines primary healthcare as a whole-of-society approach to health that focuses on people's needs as early as possible along the spectrum from health promotion and disease prevention to recovery, rehabilitation, and palliative care, and as close to their daily environment as possible. In Australia, nurses work in a variety of primary health care settings, including general and family practise, community settings, educational institutions, occupational settings, domiciliary care, residential aged care, and sports and community organisations [1].
Domestic and family violence
Domestic violence is defined as a pattern of behaviour that includes the exercise of control and power over an intimate partner and can take various forms within family situations [2]. DFV is "a subtype of family violence that often refers to violent behaviour between current or former intimate partners," according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
Emotional, sexual, physical, threats of action and psychological acts are all examples of violence. Domestic violence may result in physical, psychological, and fear and control concerns, all of which can lead to mental and physical sickness, disability, or death [3]. Domestic and family violence is a major public health concern across the world. According to a survey of 66 countries, intimate partners are responsible for 13.5% of all killings. The bulk of the data is self-reported, which suggests that underreporting has a significant influence on the incidence of DFV. Global DFV estimates show a gendered trend, with women and children suffering disproportionately. According to the Australian Personal Safety Survey, one in six women and one in seventeen males has suffered domestic violence. Female DFV abusers are more likely than male perpetrators to employ weapons rather than kick or punch, and violence is less likely to be planned or premeditated. Female-perpetrated domestic violence is more likely to provoke violent reprisal from male victims, and women are more inclined to use self-defence and retaliatory violence to protect themselves from an abusive relationship. While women are more likely to be subjected to emotional abuse and controlling behaviours in same-sex relationships, men are more likely to be subjected to physical and sexual abuse by their partners. The global DFV rate is different in different nations and areas. In Australia, for example, the number of women admitted to hospitals for DFV-related assaults increased from 5.3 to 6.6 per 100,000 people between 2002 and 2017. According to the World Health Organization, the prevalence of lifetime partner violence varies from 20% in the Western Pacific to 33% in the Americas and Southeast Asia. Latin American and Caribbean countries had some of the highest rates of family and domestic-related difficulties [4]. Social determinants of health, such as socioeconomic deprivation, social isolation, homelessness risk, low health literacy, and stigma, have a detrimental influence on DFV patients' access to health care. Allowing people with DFV access to both informal and official healthcare support is critical for reducing the likelihood of negative health effects and healthcare expenditures. Effective communication between DFV sufferers and health providers, in particular, has proved to be critical in improving the health and safety of those who are suffering from the virus [5]. Multiple government and non-government entities are involved in offering services to address DFV in Australia, with several points of entry and referral, resulting in a complex and fragmented experience when seeking care. To make matters worse, many of the women in Australia who are affected by DFV come from vulnerable groups such as those from culturally and linguistically diverse origins, First Nations peoples, young people, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
Domestic and family violence and COVID-19
There has been a global upsurge in DFV cases since the COVID-19 pandemic epidemic, particularly in countries with a high number of COVID-19 confirmed cases, such as Singapore, France, Cyprus, Argentina, and the United States. The public health advice to stay at home and self-isolate has resulted in an increase in the number and frequency of DFV episodes, which comes at a time when individuals are cut off from most of their support network. During the implementation of stay-at-home orders in Australia, there was a 5% rise in police callouts for DFV occurrences, as well as a 75% increase in internet Google searches for DFV help. Health professionals have observed the introduction of novel types of DFV, which have been connected to the social isolation and physical separation associated with the COVID-19 infection. Domestic abuse offenders in Australia have apparently used the COVID-19 virus to intimidate women and force them into cohabitation, after which they are isolated from their typical social networks [6]. Many women with DFV now have less access to help, which health professionals are becoming increasingly aware of. For people who live in other nations, the situation is similar, if not more complicated. People infected with DFV in India, for example, were unable to leave their houses and avoid dangerous conditions for months during the early stages of the epidemic owing to a rigorous lockdown, making their situation considerably worse. According to these findings, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the incidence of DFV.
The rationale for this review
The prevalence of DFV has consequences for nursing practise, such as identifying people with DFV, equipping them with important knowledge, and treating their health needs through the development of suitable treatments [7]. On average, women who suffer DFV have 35 instances of violence before seeking treatment [8]. It is vital to empower people living with DFV to seek and receive timely care and assistance in order to improve their health outcomes and access to much-needed healthcare and support services. Nurses are the most common healthcare profession, and they play an essential role in enabling DFV patients' access to services [9]. The goal of this scoping evaluation is to look into the care that nurses deliver to people with DFV in primary care settings [10].
This scoping evaluation looked into the care that primary health care nurse’s offer to people who have DFV. Nurses reported a variety of therapies for DFV-affected women. Because they are ill-prepared and uneasy, few nurses consistently test women for DFV. Furthermore, few nurses receive frequent education/training in screening and treating DFVpositive women, so they are unfamiliar with their local procedures and recommendations. Given the expanding prevalence of DFV, ensuring that nurses are well-educated to deliver healthcare to people with DFV is critical, as it will likely enhance access to treatment for the growing number of people with DFV.
Citation: Watson J. A Scoping Review of Nurses' Care for People Suffering from Domestic Violence in Primary Health Care Settings. Prim Health Care, 2022, 12(5), 442
Received: 04-May-2022, Manuscript No. JPHC-22-65323; Editor assigned: 06-May-2022, Pre QC No. JPHC-22-65323(PQ); Reviewed: 20-May-2022, QC No. JPHC-22-65323(Q); Revised: 22-May-2022, Manuscript No. JPHC-22-65323(R); Published: 28-May-2022, DOI: 10.4172/2167-1079.22.12.5.1000442
Copyright: © 2022 Watson J. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited
