b'AWARENESS GUIDE| Approximately one in every four women and one of every nine men experience severe intimate partner violence and/or intimate partner stalking.incidence of homicide in domestic partnerfind themselves in. The cycle of abuse hasone or two documented episodes of injury to violence is five times greater when a gun isbecome a web that has encircled them com- a domestic partner and the partner was sub-present. Intimate partner violence accountspletely. When they are slapped, punched, orsequently murdered!for 15% of all violent crime in the Unitedhit, they blame themselves. Its my fault,People in a relationship who are verbally States, but surprisingly, only 34% of peoplethey believe. I set him/her off. Deep down,and emotionally assaulted see it as a win-who are injured by intimate partners receivethey know better, but their confidence haswin if no physical violence ensues. However, medical care for their injuries. The reason forbeen eroded over time. it is not a victory if you must give up your this has to do with the fear of discovery, andWhen they arrive at the Emergencyrights as an individual to survive in a rela-the hesitancy of many to report their injuries.Room or Acute Care Services, they lie, tell- tionship that continues to be dysfunctional. ing the nurses they had an accident. TheyThis can be confusing and frightening to THE INTRICACIES tripped and hit their head. They keep theirpeople over time. Emotional abuse is just as Understanding how intimate partner domes- eyes averted while telling these lies. Theydestructive as physical abuse.tic violence presents is important to recognizemay have bruises in strange places, under the signs/symptoms of possible abuse whenclothing, well hidden. They act scared whileABUSE INVOLVES CHILDRENcouples arrive in the hospital or acute care.telling their stories: if they do not pull offWitnessing domestic partner abuse involves The behavior of the abuser is different thanthe act well enough, the abuser could bechildren, unfortunately. In 2010, more than 5 the abused partner in an intimate partnerreported. An abuser who is reported, whomillion children in the USA were witnesses to relationship. Many couples may appear out- develops a police record in an intimate part- domestic abuse. One in three of those children wardly affectionate on first meeting, as thener relationship could become even morewere also victims of abuse themselves. Abusive clues to these relationships could be subtle.abusive. Statistics demonstrate the mostpartners often kidnap, abuse, threaten, or oth-However, a spouse that abuses their partner isdangerous time for a partner in an intimateerwise harm children if victims leave, mak-often one that hovers closely, refusing to leaverelationship is when they are trying to severing it even more imperative that the cycle of a partner alone, for fear of what may be saidthe relationship and/or leave. domestic abuse be stopped. Todays abused once the patient is alone with a provider. They cannot do it alone. parent could be tomorrows Amber alert, lend-An abuser may begin by controlling the cir- Groups such as the National Coalitioning an imperative call for action.cle of friends in a relationship, or the house- Against Domestic Violence (NCADV) offer hold money and access to credit cards. Theyresources, fact sheets, events, and supportCONCLUSIONmay use guilt, shame, and humiliation to wearfor individuals and institutions aiding vic- As most of the United States has been suf-down the self-esteem of a partner, destroyingtims of domestic violence. One of the mostfering through an unprecedented pandemic, a sense of self worth slowly over time, until theimportant lessons nurses need to teachthe quiet places of societal misfortune have partner begins to believe the insults and den- patients is that it is still domestic abuse evenbecome more obscure, but not more healed. igration. As the control escalates, an abuserif the injuries seem minor compared to whatTherefore, we must be alert to patients who may begin to physically punish the partner,you might have seen on television or in theneed assistance in dealing with intimate all the while blaming the partner for the toxicnews. You do not need to exhibit a majorpartner violence but lack the skills to com-behavior. The partner may recognize that theinjury for it to classify as intimate partnermunicate their needs. We should be alert to relationship is toxic, but by the time physi- abuse. Additionally, it does count even ifthe signs/symptoms of both abuser behavior cal abuse has started, they have nowhere toyour patient has only been injured once orand those of the individual being abused, so turn; they have been isolated from friends andtwice. If your partner has injured you once,that we may offer resources for appropriate resources are scarce. it is statistically expected that the abuse willassistance. We cannot afford to miss these They have become trapped, and maylikely continue and escalate. There have beensymptoms because the cost of inaction is blame themselves for the situation theyinstances where a domestic partner had onlysimply too high.n10 AWARENESS GUIDE|2020| www.elitecme.com'