Domestic violence is one of the challenges that families in the United States grapple with today (Vagianos, 2014). This challenge wrecks families and causes untold pain. One of the factors that have facilitated domestic violence is the failure by concerned stakeholders to intervene. The nursing community is among the stakeholders that can help to address this problem (McDowall, 2010). By attending to victims of abuse and reporting all incidences to authorities, nurses can ensure that homes remain safe. The purpose of this paper is to explore the patterns of knowing and their link to domestic violence. The paper offers a case involving a family that grappled with domestic violence.
Description of experience
Recently, I attended to a woman in her mid 30s who had bruises and cuts on her face and arms. She was accompanied by her two sons and daughter. Initially, the woman refused to reveal the real cause of her injuries. She insisted that she had fallen. It took the intervention of her children before she could open up. She shared that for years, she has suffered abuse in the hands of her husband. She had unsuccessfully sought help numerous times. She lamented that the abuse that she had suffered were having detrimental effects on her children. Their academic performance had suffered and their confidence had declined. She asked that in addition to attending to her injuries, I should help her end the pain that she endured everyday at home. The case of this family is just one of many in the US. There are thousands of wives who endure violence and other forms of abuse (Feder, 2013).
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Patterns of knowing
For nurses to be effective in the delivery of medical services, they must possess knowledge and insight. In the case described above, there were various patterns of knowledge that allowed me to help the family. Personal knowing is one of these patterns. Essentially, personal knowing refers to the insights gained through personal experience, self-actualization and reflection (Chinn & Kramer, 2014). Personal knowing was evident in the case above. I had suspicions that the woman was lying about how she acquired the injuries. I have attended to victims of domestic abuse and they tend to lie. The victims lie out of fear that they will suffer further. Empirical knowing is another pattern. Essentially, this pattern of knowing is made possible by facts and research. For instance, nurses are able to understand the symptoms of certain conditions through research and education. Empirical knowing was evident in the case described earlier. I was able to understand that the injuries that the woman had sustained were the result of some form of abuse. It is well understood that injuries vary based on the cause. Therefore, the injuries sustained as a result of violence are different from those resulting from a fall.
Ethical knowing is the third pattern. This refers to the insights that one gains from their own moral code (Chinn & Kramer, 2014). Essentially, this pattern allows one to determine what is wrong and what is right. As I examined the woman’s case, I understood that what she had suffered was unacceptable. This is how ethical knowing became evident. I think that no one should ever endure violence. All wives must be respected and shielded from abuse. Aesthetic knowing is yet another form of knowledge that defines the role of a nurse. This pattern of knowing involves all the other patterns. It allows a nurse to combine the other patterns to arrive at new realizations (Chinn & Kramer, 2014). This pattern was evident in the case. After borrowing from my personal experiences, my personal moral code and objective facts, I was able to come to the realization that domestic violence has profound impacts. Now I understand that the primary victim is not the only one who suffers. Such other people as the victim’s children also share in the pain.
Emancipatory knowing is perhaps the most important pattern of knowing. Basically, this way of knowing involves examining a situation, identifying the causes and coming up with possible solutions (Chinn & Kramer, 2014). It allows nurses to develop practical measures to address a challenge. This form of knowing was evident in the case described earlier. I was able to understand that there are some actions that I could take to help the woman and her children. I intended to offer medical care and refer her case to the authorities. I am convinced that these measures will help to ease her pain and end the violence that she has suffered.
Social justice problem
The case described earlier highlights one social justice problem that is ailing many families and the larger American nation. This problem is domestic violence and the failure by the criminal justice system to protect victims. The woman mentioned that she had sought help before but did not receive it. The criminal justice system can be blamed for the continued abuse that the woman suffered. Had the system intervened in good time, perhaps the woman would have been shielded from the abuse. The American justice system routinely abandons victims (Meng, 2016). There are many bureaucratic flaws and limitations that make it difficult for victims to receive help. If the US wishes to effectively tackle the challenge of domestic violence, it should reform the justice system.
Every day, hundreds of women and men suffer abuse in the hands of their partners. This abuse causes wounds that may never heal. In addition to these men and women, children also suffer. They are unable to perform in school and their self-esteem also suffers. The nursing community has an obligation to combat domestic violence. The five patterns of knowing can be used to understand the experiences of domestic abuse victims. There is also need for the criminal justice system to be reformed. This will go a long way in ensuring that victims are protected and the perpetrators are prosecuted.
References
Chinn, P. L., & Kramer, M. K. (2014). Knowledge Development in Nursing: Theory and Process. Elsevier Health Sciences.
Feder, L. (2013). Women and Domestic Violence: An Interdisciplinary Approach. London: Routledge.
McDowall, H. (2010). What Causes Domestic Abuse and How can Nurses Effectively Support Abused Women? Nursing Times, 108 (8). Retrieved 7 th March 2017 from https://www.nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/womens-health/what-causes-domestic-abuse-and-how-can-nurses-effectively-support-abused-women/5012025.article
Meng, G. (2016). Op-Ed: How the Justice System Violates Victims’ Human Rights. Retrieved 7 th March 2017 from http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-meng-victims-human-rights-20160804-snap-story.html
Vagianos, A. (2014). 30 Shocking Domestic Violence Statistics that Remind us it’s an Epidemic. Retrieved 7 th March 2017 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/23/domestic-violence-statistics_n_5959776.html
