Poster Presentation
Friday, July 13, 2007
9:30 AM - 10:15 AM
Friday, July 13, 2007
3:15 PM - 4:00 PM
A Survey of Nurses' Perspectives and Interventions on Abuse in Japan
Hiroyo Hatashita, PHN, PhD1, Hitomi Suzuki, RN2, Kayoko Tamamura, RN2, Yoshimi Tsujioka, RN2, Masataka Habata, RN2, Makiko Martinez, RN2, and Yae Kawai, PHN, MS1. (1) Faculty of Nursing, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan, (2) Faculty of Nursing, Graduate School of Medicine, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan
| Learning Objective #1: Identify nurses' awareness of abuse in hospitals in Japan. |
| Learning Objective #2: Describe how nursing education can provide needed knowledge and skills for nurses to effectively assess and intervene in abuse situations. |
Introduction: Until recently, in traditional Japanese culture family matters, including child, wife and elder abuse, have been considered to be private, not public. A law against child, wife and elder abuse has recently been enacted making these previously private family matters more public. In recognition of the importance of updating nursing practice to comply with the new law, a survey was conducted to assess nurses’ awareness of abuse and to identify how they dealt with abuse if they identified it. Purpose: To investigate nurses’ awareness of abuse in families and to identify how they deal with abuse once it is identified.
Method: A survey was conducted during the period between September 25 and October 15, 2006 on 2047 nurses who work in hospitals in northwestern Japan, using a self-report questionnaire created by the authors.
Findings: A total of 1492(72.9%) subjects responded to the survey. Findings that will be presented include: 1) nurses’ knowledge of legal requirements related to abuse; 2) the number of suspected cases of abuse encountered; 3) types of interventions implemented by nurses; and 4) the number of nurses reporting formal nursing education on abuse. Discussion: The recent passage of a law against abuse in Japan, has created a need for teaching Japanese nurses how to recognize abuse and how to intervene effectively when it is identified. Education regarding abuse in families needs to be incorporated systematically into curriculum for fundamental nursing education. Nurses who are already practicing need supplemental education to identify abuse and intervene effectively.