1.4 Helen's Story
While you work through the remaining modules, bear in mind how nursing's historical attitudes towards the character of the nurse (self-sacrificing, submissive, dedicated etc), continues to permeate nursing even today in the hierarchical nature of health care practice and in the legal systems assumption that nurses should accept violence and abuse as a personal risk of doing the work of nursing.
This same attitude is reflected in the beliefs or myths we hold about women in abusive relationships. These social beliefs can influence the health provider's approach to care. Women have learned that the consequences of revealing abuse can negatively affect her life and her health. Similarly, Helen's experience of being abused by Dr. Dale was that her only alternative for ending the abuse was to leave her job or transfer to another unit, and this was described as a "choice". The problem is that the responsibility remains with Helen to make changes to mitigate the abuse, while Dr. Dale continues to be abusive and faces no sanctions or consequences for his abuse. Hospital policies, professional bodies and administrators must take responsibility for ending the abuse rather than expecting the victim to make changes to her life. This reality is compounded for women experiencing abuse in their relationships and often results in an expectation that women must make the changes to stop the abuse. This will be explored in more detail in Module 2.
In the following modules, you will learn how to support colleagues and patients who may be experiencing abuse in their intimate relationships. While there is much work to be done to change the conditions that allow abuse between health-care workers, click here for:
Resource Link:
Abuse in the Workplace: What can nurses can do?
>> REFERENCES
Araujo, S. & Sofield, L., (1999). Words can hurt. Retrieved February 1, 2005.
http://www.home.comcast.net/~laura08723/article2.htm
Cox, H.C. (1987).
Verbal abuse in nursing: Report of a study. Nursing Management, 18(11), 47-50.
International Congress of Nursing, 2005,
Nursing Matters: ICN on occupational stress and the threat to worker health. Retrieved February 14, 2005.
http://www.icn.ch/matters_stress_print.htm
International Congress of Nursing, 2005,
Nursing Matters: Violence: A world-wide epidemic. Retrieved Feb 12, 2005.
http://www.icn.ch/matters_violence_print.htm
Rosenstein, A.H., (2002)
Nurse-Physician Relationships: Impact on nurse satisfaction and retention. American Journal of Nursing. 102(6), 26-34.
You have now completed Module 1: A New Perspective of Abuse in the Workplace. Click on 'Module 2' at the top of the page to begin the next module.