Detecting domestic violence against women in the emergency department: a nursing triage model

Objective To determine the disclosure rate for abuse in the setting of an emergency department. Design Cross-sectional survey of women assessed for triage in the emergency department of a tertiary care hospital. Methods Nursing triage was used to determine disclosure rates for abuse. Triage nurses routinely ask all women about abuse in their lives. During the study period (October 5 through 11, 1993) triage nurses were asked to record the answers to enquiries about abuse. In addition, triage nurses were asked to document the reasons why for some patients questions about abuse were not asked. Results Two hundred fifty-two women seen in the emergency department were questioned about abuse. Six percent of the women questioned in the study disclosed abuse. Triage for abuse was not done for 86 women because of the acuity of patient's condition, language barrier, presence of relatives, discomfort on the part of the nurse in asking the question, or the nurse being too busy. Conclusion A brief nursing triage question appears to be an efficient way of detecting abuse among women seen in the emergency department.