frightened of the abuser

[studentnicu]

Has anyone heard of the black dot campaign? Its new to me but maybe it is an old thing... Im sure it has come in many forms before.

So this is when victims of domestic violence who are afraid to speak up to healthcare providers can draw a black dot on the palm of their hand to alert us of the situation. I think its such a good form of communication since we are able to share it here without more 'abusers' knowing what it is. But then we have the problem of victims also not in the know. Have any if you seen things like this? Are there ways to let more people know while still maintaining safety of victims? Do new trends of communication occur when this sort of information gets into the wrong hands?

[mercurysmom]

When I worked as a Developmental Nurse Educator in an Early Intervention/birth to three program, my colleagues and I encountered domestic violence situations quite often. (In my state, DCF called EI to evaluate the development all infants and toddlers in the home whenever a case was opened.). There were quite a few parents who did disclose abuse, and we needed to document the conversations, any visible injuries on Mom or any family members, and any referrals we made.

All documentation of domestic violence concerning the parent and/or other children was kept in a file under the parent's name, rather than the child's name. This way, if the abusive parent requested the child's chart, the info Mom shared with EI staff was not accessible to them.

I've never heard of the black dot campaign. However, we did have small info cards available in restrooms.

[nrsang97, BSN, RN]

This black dot campaign is new. I too have seen the tiny pamphlets in restrooms in hospitals and medical centers.

[elkpark]

My immediate thought is that, if this gets publicized widely enough for victims and providers to be familiar with it, abusers will be aware of it, also, and that will diminish the value and utility of the program.

[studentnicu]

Yes that is my concern too as stated, but if unpublicized then that means there are a whole lot of individuals who are being abused that will be unaware of its existence... so tough. I like the pamphlet idea in the bathroom, what would be handy is if there were a space on these cards to write/ confess hard times. Then could put it back in its nice little pamphlet shelf and maybe they could be checked daily.

[blondy2061h, MSN, RN]

I think this is why all healthcare professionals just need to make a habit of purposefully getting time alone with their patient without visitors.

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

My thought is along the lines of blondy: there should not be a visitor or family member there CONSTANTLY. There ought to be a moment they leave for the cafeteria, a coffee run, something. Either the nurse needs to make a point of waiting for that time (and knows that time is NEEDED because of observed interactions of the patient and visitor) or the nurse can arrange for that time. Send the visitor off for something, anything that would give the nurse two minutes alone with the patient. Someone watching a patient like a hawk, taking "protective" into the realm of "controlling", answering for the patient instead of allowing her to speak....that's something the nurse ought to be tuned in to look for in the first place. If the guy won't leave, a black dot isn't going to be of much use....and if it's a well-publicized campaign, odds are that he will know what that surreptitiously drawn dot means as much as you do.

I've seen bathrooms that had small pockets on the backs of the restroom doors, containing cards with emergency help contact info; the cards were small enough to slip into a shoe or sock easily.