SPECIAL SESSION: Injury & Violence: A Global Priority for Nursing Science

Description/Overview: The World Health Organization identifies violence and road traffic injuires as global health priorities for the 21st Century. Decreasing the burden of injury and violence can be achieved by preventing the injury, improving acute injury care, and maximizing long-term recovery. Although injuries occur in a split second, we can rigorously research the factors leading to injuries and test interventions to reduce injuries and improve recovery. There is convincing evidence that recovery from injury is not linear and is not driven solely by the severity of the physical injury. Rather recovery is affected by a complex interplay of physical, social, economic, and psychological factors. In this session, I will use my program of research to highlight the contributions of nursing research to the interdisciplinary science of injury and violence. First, findings from a series of studies that focus on recovery after injury will be examined, with an emphasis on ways by which psychological consequences contribute to sub-otpimal recovery and how this science informs nursing practice. Next, we will analyze the negative effects of living in communities with pervasive violence on the health and well-being of vulnerable children and adults through a series of studies using community based participatory research and examine application to practice.