AIM – To increase the levels of access to appropriate support and services for women accessing Emergency Departments who are victims of domestic violence, whether their reason for accessing the Emergency Department is due to a domestic violence incident or some other presenting issue

SPECIFIC – Provide nurses working in Emergency Departments with the knowledge and tools to identify the signs of domestic violence and be confident in sympathetically offering appropriate support.

SETTING – Emergency Departments

AUDIENCE – Nurses working in triage and assessment part of Emergency Department pathwaysy

USEFUL – Undertake a needs assessment survey of nursing staff to identify the barriers they face in identifying signs of domestic violence and the most practical ways of enabling them to offer appropriate support

LEARNING – Develop a training course addressing the needs assessment and an ongoing package of support to ensure that participants have learnt new skills and can be supported to review and continue their learning in the workplace.

TOOLS – With participants, during training, develop, for instance, a screening tool (short set of questions) to help them identify domestic violence, an aide memoire to help them remember the signs of domestic violence and a support package (leaflet, support organisation details) for them to provide to victims of domestic violence.