Confronting Violence

"Nursing and Battered Women," Response To the Victimization of Women and Children, Vol 11, No. 2, 1988

Nurse reformer Jacquelyn Campbell published extensively on the role of nurses in treating women who were battered. Campbell described the inadequacy of the medical system of the time in meeting the needs of victims of domestic violence. She outlined the history and philosophy of nursing, and noted the profession's holistic, more comprehensive approach to caring for women who were battered, which encompassed meeting physical, behavioral, and social needs. Campbell advocated that nurses not only had a philosophy "more in line with the principles of the battered women's movement," but also could be powerful agents for social change, in partnership with the movement.

Courtesy National Library of Medicine