Citation

Prasad SS. Am. J. Nurs. 2020; 120(4): 13.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, American Nurses Association, Publisher Lippincott Williams and Wilkins)

DOI

10.1097/01.NAJ.0000659944.33074.b9

PMID

32218025

Abstract

It was a pleasure reading “When ‘Love’ = Death” (What I'm Reading, October 2019), in which Theresa Brown reviews Rachel Louise Snyder's book No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know About Domestic Violence Can Kill Us (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019). Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious preventable public health problem that, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), affects one in four women during their lifetime.1 The CDC also reports that 41% of female IPV survivors experience some form of physical injury, and that nearly half of female homicide victims are killed by a current or former intimate partner.1 IPV has a negative impact on women's physical and mental health and puts them at risk for engaging in health risk behaviors.1

In her book, Snyder discusses the work of nurse Jacquelyn Campbell, and the Danger Assessment tool Campbell created to help law enforcement identify a person's risk of being killed by an intimate partner (see www.dangerassessment.org to access the tool). Nurses can also use this tool at the bedside and in other health care settings to identify victims of domestic violence and help them get the care and resources they need. Although my facility currently has an abuse assessment to screen for victims, there is always room for improvement. The Danger Assessment tool has potential to help save lives.

Language: en