Citation

Báez AA, Miller R, Giraldez E, Michaud Y, Rogers S. Acad. Emerg. Med. 2007; 14(Suppl 1): S67.

Affiliation

Brigham and Women's Hospital

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1197/j.aem.2007.03.884

PMID

17463950

Abstract

Every year, millions of individuals visit an emergency department (ED) as result of violence-related injuries. The study objective was to assess the attitudes, perceptions and challenges emergency care providers (ECP) face when caring for victims of violence (VOV).

Methods

The study was a cross-sectional descriptive survey. ECP completed a web-based 20-item survey including provider demographics, resources, personal experiences and perceptions about caring for VOV.

Results

224 ECP participated in the survey. 45.3% were physicians, 34.4% nurses, 12.5% paramedics/EMTs, 6.2% nurse practitioners and 3.1% physician assistants. Participants have a combined professional experience of 2,730 years (mean 12.2). 90.6% of participants practice in an ED setting. Subjects estimate that they care for 484.5 trauma patients/year of which 196 (40.5%) are VOV. 64.1% of ECP characterize violence as an important health issue. 75.4% state their institution has a social service program for intimate partner violence, whereas only 34.4% have one for youth violence and only 31.1% for victims of assault. 65.6% of subjects feel their violence-related social services are suboptimal. Working in an urban center is not associated with availability of social services [p = 0.80 (RR 0.97 95% CI = 0.77 to 1.23)]. 78.1% feel they are negatively affected personally or emotionally when caring for a VOV and 57.1% of participants had been VOV themselves. 59.7% had been previously assaulted by a patient, and 50.8% feel fear when caring for a VOV. Only 62.9% routinely care for the psycho/social needs of VOV. The main barriers to addressing these needs are time (90.3%), education/training (48.4%), and financial (38.7%).

Conclusions

Interpersonal violence is a serious public health concern. A great number of medical providers have been personally affected by caring for VOV. The psychosocial needs of these patients are not adequately met. Limitations include the potential for self-selection and accuracy of the data.

Language: en