NURSING STUDENTS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE AND THE INFLUENCING FACTORS

Abstract

Aim: The increasing incidence of violence is an important public health problem. A report published by World Health Organization indicated that approximately 1 in 3 (35 %) women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual partner violence. Most of this violence is intimate partner violence. In this context, nurses students’ attitudes toward intimate partner violence and their experience with intimate partner violence are very important. The aim of this study was to determine the factors influencing the attitudes of nursing students toward intimate partner violence. Methods: The study was a descriptive-correlational design. The data were collected by using Personal Information Form and Intimate Partner Violence Attitude Scale. In the analysis of the research descriptive statistics, the Pearson correlation, Kruskal-Wallis, Mann-Whitney-U and Binary logistic regression tests were used. Results: It was found that 11.4% of the female students and 8.5% of the male students encountered intimate partner violence; of these students, 6.7% experienced physical, 5.2% experienced psychological, 4.4% experienced social, 2.1% experienced sexual and 1.5% experienced economic and digital intimate partner violence. It was found that nursing students whose mothers had attained a higher education level, who were exposed to domestic violence or who witnessed violence adopted a strong attitude against intimate partner violence. Conclusions and Suggestions: This study emphasizes the necessity of increasing awareness of nursing students towards intimate partner violence and other types of violence, of adding violence as a compulsory course in the curriculum, and learning about legal responsibilities.