In recent years, more attention has been paid to the problem of spousal abuse. Indeed, many women consider violence their number one health issue. Fortunately, compared to past generations of abused women, today's woman has different options for dealing with an abusive relationship. Still, however, the problem persists. In fact, its growth in our modern world has reached epidemic proportions. There are several reasons for this increase. They include aspects ranging from the individual and cycles of abuse passed from one generation to the next to all of society. Regardless of the cause though, it is the nurses' responsibility to provide effective and appropriate intervention. Perhaps this can best be achieved using the patient advocacy model.
According to FBI estimates, in the United States a woman is beaten every 15 to 18 seconds (Worcester, 1992, p. 284). Spousal abuse can be defined as the use of physical force by a male against his female partner. This violence may affect all women regardless of age, race, income, sexual orientation, or environment (Noel & Yam, 1992, p. 874). Numerous studies document that between 22% and 35% of women who use emergency rooms are battered women seeking treatment, either because of the direct effects of abuse or stress induced illness caused by ongoing abuse. Moreover, because these same women often need to return time and time again, almost half the injuries women have when they arrive in emergency rooms may be due to spousal abuse (Worcester, 1992, p. 284).
In particular, pregnant women are especially prone to domestic violence. Retrospective studies have indicated that 40 60% of battered women report abuse during pregnancy (Parker et al., 1993, p. 173). Some surveys of pregnant women have reported as much as a 36% higher prevalence of abuse than among nonpregnant women. Furthermore, twenty five percent of battered women say that the first time they were beaten was durin...