What is it about?
Domestic abuse (DA) is widespread and nurses are increasingly being asked to respond to victim-survivors. However, research suggests that nurses may be more likely to experience DA than other people, and less likely to reach out for support.
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Why is it important?
Whilst some progress has been made with challenging common myths about who might experience domestic abuse, it is still poorly understand that nurses, themselves, may be victim-survivors. This is problematic on many levels. Victim-survivors in healthcare roles often struggle to acknowledge their experiences as domestic abuse and this prevents them from reaching out for support. They may also find it triggering or distressing to engage with related training, or with patients who have had similar experiences. By highlighting this concern, and by undertaking research on this topic, we hope to create greater acknowledgement of the issue, and to start taking action to ensure that nurses who experience domestic abuse get the support they need, at the point when they need it most.
Perspectives
Fifteen years ago, when we started training healthcare professionals to respond to victim-survivors of domestic abuse, I was struck by the number of disclosures we were receiving after each session. We tried to pursue research funding to explore this topic, but funders seemed unwilling to believe that our observations might be cause for concern. As a society we don't want to believe that healthcare professionals experience domestic abuse, we have a vested interest in wanting them to be the carers, the responders, but not the people in need of support. Thankfully we've made some headway with this, though, not infrequently, our research findings are still met with a sense of disbelief or bewilderment. We have to start talking about this issue, to change the narrative and offer the support that is so desperately needed.
Dr Alison Gregory
University of Bristol
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Domestic abuse: nurses experience it too, British Journal of Nursing, August 2025, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/bjon.2025.0363.
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