Barriers to Screening for Domestic Violence in an Emergency Department

摘要

Screening for persons who are victims of domestic violence is not routinely done inemergency departments (EDs) when clients present for care, nor have all health careprofessionals been educated in ways to ask appropriate questions to assess victimization.Since questions to identify domestic violence are not on admission sheets anddocumentation is inconsistent, an interdisciplinary team in the ED of an urban medicalcenter conducted a study using five screening questions. Findings revealed inaccuratestatistics for domestic violence and significant barriers for staff participation inscreening of adult clients. Clinical implications and follow-up educational programs are discussed.