Interpersonal Violence: What Undergraduate Nursing Students Know

Area of Science:

• Nursing Education
• Public Health
• Violence Prevention

Background:

• Interpersonal violence is a significant public health concern.
• Nurses play a crucial role in identifying and addressing interpersonal violence.
• Existing undergraduate nursing curricula may have deficits in preparing students to manage these cases.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the content of undergraduate nursing curricula regarding interpersonal violence.
• To assess the knowledge levels of undergraduate nursing students on interpersonal violence.
• To identify areas for improvement in nursing education to better prepare students.

Main Methods:

• A program evaluation of nursing curricula was conducted.
• A 43-question survey was developed and administered to assess student knowledge.
• The study included 104 traditional and accelerated undergraduate nursing students.

Main Results:

• Student knowledge scores showed an increase during undergraduate program enrollment.
• This suggests that some content on violence is being delivered through the curriculum.
• Data indicated specific curricular deficits in interpersonal violence education.

Conclusions:

• Current undergraduate nursing programs impart some knowledge on interpersonal violence.
• There are opportunities to enhance the curriculum to better prepare nurses.
• Revisions are proposed to improve nursing students' ability to address violence in patient populations.