title: The bridge: providing nursing care for survivors of sexual violence.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the experiences of nurses who provide care for survivors of sexual violence (SV) on a number of different types of hospital units.
  
  
  METHODS
  Semi-structured interviews of 23 unit managers and 12 advanced practice nurses from four tertiary care hospitals were audiotaped and transcribed. Participants were asked to describe how they screen for SV and how they provide care for survivors. A team approach was used to conduct a thematic analysis of the data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The bridge metaphor was chosen as the central theme of the data because it captures three key aspects of the participants' experiences: an initial sense of disconnection from patients who are survivors of SV (being separated on opposite shores), the need to proceed cautiously (tentatively stepping onto the bridge), and the experience of forming a meaningful connection that serves as the context of care (meeting on the bridge and crossing it together).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This research suggests that nurses provide quality care for survivors of SV by intuitively responding to survivors' cues of distress, cautiously broaching the topic of violence, and finding ways to ease the healthcare encounter.
authors.affiliation: Kent State University, Kent, Ohio 44242, USA. rross1@kent.edu
authors.forename: Ratchneewan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.forename: Claire Burke
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Draucker
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martsolf
authors.forename: Kathleen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Adamle
authors.forename: Lenny
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chiang-Hanisko
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Lewandowski
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D057179:Advanced Practice Nursing; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000523:psychology*; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000209:etiology / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D017741:Survivors