Relationship of knowledge about and attitudes towards violence with recognition of violence against women among health staff in pre-hospital emergency medical services

• Published in: International emergency nursing 2021-05, Vol.56, p.100975, Article 100975
• Main Authors: Gümüşsoy, Süreyya, Dönmez, Sevgül, Ekşi, Ali, Dal, Nursel Alp
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acknowledgment; Attitude; Attitudes; Domestic violence; Emergency medical care; Emergency services; Ethnicity; Health services; Health staff; Hospitals; Medical personnel; Mothers; Paramedics; Pre-hospital emergency; Social classes; Technicians; Violence against women; Womens health; Working women; Workplaces
• ISSN: 1755-599X; 1532-9267; 1878-013X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ienj.2021.100975

•Health staff assumes responsibilities not only in identifying cases of violence against women, but also in providing treatment, support and rehabilitation and in creating a nonviolent culture in the community involving the reduction and prevention of and protection against violence, and the development of early intervention strategies.•It was determined that health staff working in the emergency health stations recognized the signs of violence against women better as their attitudes towards violence became less traditional.•The characteristics, attitudes, perceptions and values of health professionals were determined to be important factors in addressing violence.•Healthcare professionals providing healthcare services to people from all social classes should strive to recognize their own attitudes towards violence and to be free from the effects of such attitudes in providing professional healthcare services. Domestic violence, specifically, violence against women, is prevalent in all segments of society regardless of social class, ethnicity, culture or country. In other words, domestic violence is a global concern. The study aims to investigate the relationship between the attitude and knowledge of the health staff in pre-hospital emergency medical services about violence against women and their recognition of such form of violence. This descriptive study was conducted on 1023 paramedics and emergency medicine technicians who work in the pre-hospital emergency health setting and are members of the Paramedic and Pre-hospital Emergency Medicine Association. The Attitudes towards Violence against Women Scale (ATVAWS) and Health Staff's Recognition of Signs of Violence against Women Scale (HPRSVAWS) were used for data collection. The mean scores for the ATVAWS and HPRSVAWS were 46.68 ± 6.92 and 20.31 ± 3.23, respectively. Of the participants, 48.5% had been subjected to violence, 43.93% had been subjected to violence perpetrated by their mothers, 41.53% had been exposed to physical violence and 4.2% remain exposed to domestic violence. Participants who had been exposed and those who remain exposed to domestic violence produced high scores in ATVAWS, which indicates an improvement in the traditional approach (less opposing view) to violence. High scores in the ATVAWS for (a) those who were exposed to violence in their workplaces, (b) who had never attended to actual or suspected cases of violence against women in their professional life, (c) who had attended