Nurses' attitude and knowledge about sexual assault

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine nurses' attitudes toward sexual assault, general knowledge of sexual assault, and comprehension of nursing care for survivors, and explored the relationship between these aspects and personal characteristics of the nurse.
379 nurses working on obstetric/gynecologic (OBGY), surgery, and emergency room units at 11 hospitals and 1 clinic participated in this survey. The Rape Supportive Attitude Scale (RSAS) was translated by the author. The Test of General Knowledge of Sexual Assault and the Comprehension Test of Nursing Care for Rape Survivors were author-developed. Factor analysis of the RSAS yielded four factors:(1) image of the rape victim and justification of assailants, (2) some rape is induced by women and is their responsibility, (3) women's sexual preferences, (4) men desire rape.
As a result, three personal characteristics of nurses were correlated with the dependent variables: being a midwife, working in OBGY and interest in nursing care for rape survivors. Midwives had more favorable attitudes toward survivors (RSAS), higher general knowledge of sexual assault, and greater knowledge of nursing care.
The above findings, together with the findings that 71% of respondents were interested in nursing care for survivors but few had the chance to learn, indicate that an educational program that focuses on the nursing care for rape survivors should be planned for nurses.