New grad dilemma

[lugirl1]

So I am assigned a patient who shared with me that in their culture, her husband has total power over her including making health decisions and she has no say in the matter. The patient is tired of the husband's controlling ways and has asked me what she should do. At first, I was stumped as I do not know what to tell her. I did not want to out right tell her to pack her things and leave and I did not want to tell her to stay either. I feel sorry for this patient. I shared with her that this is the United States of A and help is readily available for her whenever she is ready to make the move. I also told her that she should discuss her concerns with her husband and maybe he will consider his ways. I am not sure if I said the right things. The patient refused to discuss her situation with a social worker.

Please help and advice me on what I should say next time I am faced with a situation like this. Did I say too little or I was no help at all to the lady. Any advice is greatly appreciated.

[Okami_CCRN, BSN, RN]

Patients often put us between a rock and a hard place; ideally you want to empower her and tell her to remove herself from a potentially abusive relationship/situation. However, you should NEVER actually give a patient who may be a victim of intimate partner violence (IPV) advice to confront and leave.

You as a nurse can advocate by providing the patient with education and resources to aide in their situation. If she declined to speak to a LSW then that is her decision as a consenting adult. However, you can give her information to websites and organizations that help victims of IPV to set up plans to get away.

While your intentions were in the right place, advising her to talk to her husband about her concerns may put her at increased risk for IPV given that you may not know the intricacies of her situation.

Here are some sites that you may want to check out:

Intimate Partner Violence|Violence Prevention|Injury Center|CDC

Safe Horizon | Domestic Violence Shelters

Domestic and intimate partner violence | womenshealth.gov

Also reach out to your preceptor regarding what would have been appropriate from her/his POV.

[lugirl1]

Thanks Okami for your input. I definitely don't wanna cause the patient any harm. I will keep this in mind if I should ever encounter something like this again. Providing resources was a great idea!