title: Impact of an education program about domestic violence on nurses and doctors in an Australian emergency department.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To increase the knowledge of nurses and doctors in an emergency department about the topic of domestic violence; to change any negative practices and attitudes toward victims; to increase knowledge of the referral processes for psychosocial aspects of domestic violence; and to increase knowledge of community resources for domestic violence victims.
  
  
  METHODS
  Identical knowledge, attitude, and practice surveys were conducted with nurses and doctors in an emergency department before and after an educational intervention program about domestic violence. A matched-pair analysis of those respondents who answered both pretest and posttest surveys was conducted to measure the impact of the program on nurses and doctors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Nurses and doctors had a reasonable knowledge of the topic of domestic violence before the education program (correct answers: nurses, 61.6%; doctors, 63.4%). However, the program had a positive impact on their knowledge (correct answers posttest: nurses, 71.5%; doctors, 72.4%), with more significant changes for nurses than for doctors. The program affected both nurses' and doctors' attitudes (of 10 positive attitudinal statements: pretest, 7.9; posttest, 8.6). On both the pretest and posttest, nurses and doctors did not subscribe to a number of the myths about domestic violence that have been described in the domestic violence literature. These findings should be treated with caution because of the low response rates to the surveys from doctors (28.0%, n = 20) and nurses (53.0%, n = 48).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Further research is needed into the beliefs and practices of nurses and doctors about domestic violence. The impact of this education program highlights the necessity for introducing training programs for health professionals on domestic violence problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Raphael
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Lawrence
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: O'Toole
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: O'Brien
mesh_terms: D001315:Australia; D017579:Domestic Violence; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007318:Inservice Training; D008297:Male; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D015402:Nursing Education Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000193:education* / Q000523:psychology; D012947:Social Work; D000078329:Workforce