TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Women exposed to intimate partner violence: a Foucauldian discourse analysis of South African emergency nurses' perceptions
JO  - African health sciences
A1  - van der Wath, Anna
SP  - 1849
EP  - 1857
VL  - 19
IS  - 2
N2  - BACKGROUND: Emergency nurses' understanding and interpretation of intimate partner violence influence the care they provide to women exposed to intimate partner violence. <br><br>OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to uncover discourses that may help understand emergency nurses' responses towards women exposed to intimate partner violence. <br><br>MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study used a qualitative design to explore emergency nurses' discourses. Purposive sampling was used to select 15 participants working at an emergency unit in a public hospital in South Africa. Data were collected through three focus group discussions comprised of five emergency nurses each. Foucauldian discourse analysis was used to analyse the transcribed data. <br><br>RESULTS: Four themes emerged from the focus group discussions: (1) strong women subject themselves to societal expectations and endure intimate partner violence, (2) women are vulnerable and powerless against intimate partner violence, (3) intimate partner violence is a private and secret phenomenon, and (4) emergency nurses have limited scope to intervene when they encounter women exposed to intimate partner violence. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Emergency nurses are in a position to intervene in intimate partner violence through portraying a non-judgmental approach that lay the foundation for disclosure, supporting women to change their intimate partner violence (IPV) situations, documentation, referral and safety planning.<br><br>© 2019 van der Wath A.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1680-6905
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ahs.v19i2.7
ID  - ref1
ER  -