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Summer 2006
Volume IV, Issue II
Special Issue: Nursing Research With an Impact
Cover photo by
Chris Hartlove
Wounded Hearts, Broken Lives
By
Mary Beth Regan, Illustration by
Michelle Chang
Family Violence is a widespread problem in the United States, with deep societal roots and far-reaching impacts on health. Researchers at the school are leading efforts to identify, measure, and ultimately prevent the abuse that ruins so many lives.
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Nurses long have been on the front lines providing care when violence erupts inside America's families. But it's only been in the last quarter-century that researchers have begun to unravel the pervasiveness of family violence and assess its impact on the health of the U.S. population.
The challenge today: designing prevention and intervention strategies to stop abuse before it leads to serious injury or death. Though nurse researchers have been doing this work for a long time, they haven't always received the credit.
That may change. In January, President George W. Bush signed into law a measure that for the first time sets aside money for research by the nation's health care systems into family violence. In the past, most research dollars have been funneled through the criminal justice system, in grants from agencies such as the federal Department of Justice. The new law, the Violence Against Women Act of 2005, which still needs to be appropriated, sets aside $13 million annually, over five years, for efforts by health care workers to combat family violence. It establishes money to test strategies to stop abuse before it leads to injuries or deaths.
"It's an important shift," says Jacquelyn Campbell, PhD, RN, FAAN, an international expert who has published more than 125 scholarly articles and six books on domestic violence. "It's the first time we are getting funds to get better assessment and intervention in the health care system."
The Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing is uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of this national research initiative. The school's faculty includes some of the nation's leading experts, like Campbell, in areas of research such as the prevalence of abuse, assessment of victim danger, forensic nursing, biobehavioral responses, and violence intervention strategies.
Many of these Hopkins nurse researchers have the advantage of forging partnerships with researchers in other Hopkins divisions, including the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bloomberg School of Public Health. Together, these research groups can test real-life intervention strategies in Baltimore schools, shelters, and emergency rooms. When strategies show promise, they can be put into practice with Hopkins nursing students, who work with Baltimore's vulnerable populations.
"The problem of family violence is widespread and the roots are very deep in our society," says Phyllis Sharps, PhD, RN, CNE, FAAN, associate professor. "But we are doing cutting-edge research here. We have people developing the science. We have people trying and testing interventions. We have people translating research findings and using the evidence to teach other professionals."
Mary Beth Regan is a Baltimore-based freelancer who writes frequently about health and science issues.
