SEXUAL ABUSE ASSESSMENT ON ADMISSION BY NURSING STAFF IN GENERAL-HOSPITAL PSYCHIATRIC SETTINGS

Objective: Clinicians should have information about patients' sexual a buse history as early as possible, because a history of sexual abuse m ay affect psychiatric patients' presentation of symptoms and response to treatment. The authors surveyed a nationwide sample of acute inpati ent psychiatric facilities to determine whether a history of sexual ab use was completed on admission. Methods: A survey questionnaire about current practices relating to assessment of patients' history of sexua l abuse was sent to nurse managers at every general hospital in the U. S. that offered inpatient psychiatric services (N = 1,410). Results: A lthough respondents at 69 percent of the 466 facilities that participa ted in the survey believed that the admission assessment of psychiatri c patients should always include a history of sexual abuse, only 43 pe rcent of responding facilities included such histories in the admissio n assessment, Reasons for not including the history included patients' and staff members' unwillingness to discuss sexual abuse, lack of sta ff competence in discussing the issue, and duplication of data collect ion that occurs later in the patient's hospital stay, Conclusions: Nur se managers of inpatient psychiatric services in general hospitals rec ognize the importance of including an assessment of patients' history of sexual abuse in the admission assessment but report several obstacl es to implementing this procedure.