Barriers to screening for domestic violence in an emergency department

Screening for persons who are victims of domestic violence is not routinely done in emergency departments (EDs) when clients present for care, nor have all health care professionals been educated in ways to ask appropriate questions to assess victimization. Since questions to identify domestic violence are not on admission sheets and documentation is inconsistent, an interdisciplinary team in the ED of an urban medical center conducted a study using five screening questions. Findings revealed inaccurate statistics for domestic violence and significant barriers for staff participation in screening of adult clients. Clinical implications and follow-up educational programs are discussed.