Are We Asking? Nurse Practitioners’ Interpersonal Violence Screening Practices

Abstract

This cross-sectional study examined nurse practitioners’ (NPs’) intimate partner and sexual violence screening behaviors and identified associated factors. A survey invitation was mailed to 1000 primary care NPs, and the final sample included 170 NPs. The mean rate of violence screening was 18.9%. Of NPs who responded, 56% reported screening “almost none” of the female patients for violence during the past 3 months. Main concerns included time required to screen (32.3%) and disruption to clinic operations (18.3%). Nearly 80% of the NPs reported a need for additional training as a barrier to intimate partner and sexual violence screening.