NURS409:
Lesson 2: Epidemiology and Health Consequences of Violence
Lesson Overview
Why does violence occur?
What places an individual or group at risk for experiencing violence?
What is the role of health care providers and society in supporting patients who have experienced violence?
In this lesson we will review some of the basic prevalence and statistics of violence - focusing on the United States. We will also look at how violence impacts health and how the healthcare system has taken on violence as a public health issue over time.
Upon completion of this lesson, you should be able to:
- Discuss basic epidemiology of violence in the United States
- Review the history of violence as a public health issue
- Evaluate biologic and behavioral health impacts of trauma and violence
- By the end of this lesson, make sure you have completed the readings and activities found in the Course Schedule for Lesson 2.
Watch: How Childhood Trauma Affects Health Across a Lifetime
This video gives a great summary of some of the major health issues faced by individuals who experience violence. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) are one type of trauma, as is violence at any point in the life span.
As you watch the video think about how the biological and behavioral impacts of trauma on health are addressed in the clinical settings you've worked in. Do our health systems place more weight on certain aspects than others? Do we tend to attribute certain types of symptoms to trauma and not others?
Dr. Burke Harris is now the Surgeon General of California, and has continued her work as a physician and advocate to serve individuals who have experienced trauma.
Watch: Let’s Treat Violence Like a Contagious Disease
One more quick TEDTalk video for this lesson. As you listen to Dr. Slutkin, think about how violence tends to be treated in our healthcare systems. Who is typically responsible for preventing, identifying, and treating violence in society and in healthcare settings? How does this align or not with the models of presented by Drs. Burke Harris and Slutkin in which they present the health impacts of violence and present a model of violence an "infection."
How would systems look different if we were to embrace a disease-based model of violence care? What pros and cons of this do you see? How might these approaches more actively engage healthcare providers than current models?
Lesson Activities and Assignments
Complete the following lesson activities and assignments:
Reading Assignment
- Review assigned chapters
- Review CDC reports/resources
Forensic Nursing and Violence Discussion
The CDC has considered violence a public health issues for decades and has worked to collect data to demonstrate both the need for effective prevention programming and where efforts have been successful. Use this discussion forum to learn more about how rates of violence differ across the country and how nurses are
- Identify one type of violence (e.g. sexual violence, child abuse, homicide, etc) and review available data at the national and level and at a state level for two states of your choosing over the past 10 years. Briefly summarize what you see in the data in terms of similarities and differences and changes over time.
- Find an example in the literature of a nurse led intervention that has been tested using a research or evidence-based practice approach (e.g. find a research study of a nursing intervention) to address the type of violence you examined. Again briefly summarize what the intervention is, what specific outcomes were measured, and what difference the intervention made or didn't made in the study. Then tell us what you think the pros and cons of the intervention approach are (e.g. do you see this approach being implemented in different settings? Would it be difficult to adapt? expensive?) Include the full citation and link to the study in the post so your colleagues and I can see the great work nurses are doing to address violence in our communities.
- Ask a question: Based on the epidemiological data and nurse led intervention you examined for the week what is a question that you have?
- Answer a question: Make sure to review your classmate's postings and contribute your thoughts on the questions they asked.