Intimate Partner Violence Screening: A Nursing Concern?

Abstract

One of the Healthy People 2020 objectives is to “reduce violence by current or former intimate partners” (United States Department of Health and Human Services, 2011, p. 16). Several health organizations such as the American Medical Association, American Nurses Association and the American Association of Colleges of Nursing have recommended routine screening for IPV. This is due to the many negative health associations with intimate partner violence (IPV). About one fourth of women and one ninth of men over age 18 in the United States have experienced IPV (Centers for Disease Control, 2008). Approximately 15% of adults in the United States report having been a victim of IPV and three-fifths of adults report knowing someone who has been a victim of IPV (Krane, 2006). Currently there is no standard screening tool or protocol to help identify victims of this abuse and screening is consistently not being done. The purpose of this paper is to outline the lack of screening for IPV in spite of its prevalence and adverse health effects, the barriers that hinder screening, if all of those barriers are well founded, and ways to increase screening. This will ultimately inform healthcare providers about the ethical dilemma at hand and the need to increase IPV screening in future practice.