Nurse practitioner interventions for domestic violence

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to conduct a secondary analysis of the data from Dr . Mary Jo Gagan's study "Correlates of Nurse Practitioner Diagnosis and Intervention Performance for Domestic Violence ." Three vignettes from twenty A/FNPs were analyzed for a total sample of sixty vignettes. Secondary analysis of the data involved 1) determination of interventions being used by Adult/Family Nurse Practitioners A/FNPs for domestic violence, 2) comparison of the interventions used by A/FNPs to the literature to determine if those interventions were theoretically supported, 3) comparison of the interventions used by A/FNPs to the literature to determine if those interventions were empirically supported. Thirteen intervention categories were formulated . Interventions used by the A/FNPs were screening/history, safety, physical examination, medical treatment, report abuse, education, referrals , counseling, follow-up , exercise, separate spouse, interview spouse, and documentation. Twelve interventions were theoretically supported and only six interventions had empirical support . All interventions except exercise were theoretically supported . The interventions that were empirically supported included screening/history, physical examination, medical treatment , reporting abuse to authorities , counseling, and followup . Safety, interview spouse, separate couple , documentation, education, referrals , and encourage exercise were not empirically supported .