Sexual violence in the United States is considered a public health issues that victimizes both, males and females at some point during their life (Breiding, 2014). Although both genders are a risk approximately 19.3% of females report sexual violations compared to 1.7% in males victims (Breiding, 2014), female victims are believed to express more traumatic consequences (Breiding, 2014). Sexual violence has been defined in the past to include a variety of sexual offenses or behaviors. Breiding (2014) describes sexual violence in regards to sexual coercion, unwanted sexual contact, and non-unwanted sexual experiences. Sexual violence can also present as forced or incapacitated rape (Brown, Testa, and Messmen-Moore, 2009). In order to understand
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The report fail to provide a breakdown, but medical treatments may include emergency room visits, collection of forensic evidence, testing and treating sexual transmitted infections, victim counseling, and on-going medical care. Healthcare providers are at the front line for victims of all crimes. Policy and protocol should be implemented into healthcare to ensure victims of sexual abuse are screened effectively (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2011). The U.S. Preventative Service Task Force shared a few concerns with screening patient for sexual violence, which include lack of provider training, breach of confidentiality, enhancement of psychological distress, and escalation of violence in the family structure (Steven, 2007). Healthcare training and education concerns can be resolved with the implementation of universal health care protocols (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2011). Healthcare providers have a duty to safe guard patient’s health records. Maintaining patient confidentiality is essential to ongoing trusting …show more content…
Approximately one in five women report sexual victimization at some point during their live (CDC, 2012). Posttraumatic stress disorder appears to be the most common diagnosis among female victims (Brown et al., 2009). Other illnesses that contribute to soaring healthcare cost include migraines, GI distress, sexually transmitted infections (Stevens, 2007), and unplanned pregnancies (CDC, 2012). Since women are believed to experience more traumatic consequences (Breiding, 2014), the aim is to identify victims through implementation of routine screenings in primary care and intervene appropriately. Since the next highest rate of sexual assault occurs in females’ young adult (CDC, 2012), the target population is females 17 to 25 years old. Limitations in current research identified by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (2011) include lack of standardized screening tools, lack of support from healthcare providers due to time restraints, lack of training and knowledge, limited community resources, and providers feeling uneasy with the topic themselves. Therefore, educating and training is essential to implementing a policy and protocol specific to identifying and managing victims of sexual
The report fail to provide a breakdown, but medical treatments may include emergency room visits, collection of forensic evidence, testing and treating sexual transmitted infections, victim counseling, and on-going medical care. Healthcare providers are at the front line for victims of all crimes. Policy and protocol should be implemented into healthcare to ensure victims of sexual abuse are screened effectively (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2011). The U.S. Preventative Service Task Force shared a few concerns with screening patient for sexual violence, which include lack of provider training, breach of confidentiality, enhancement of psychological distress, and escalation of violence in the family structure (Steven, 2007). Healthcare training and education concerns can be resolved with the implementation of universal health care protocols (National Sexual Violence Resource Center, 2011). Healthcare providers have a duty to safe guard patient’s health records. Maintaining patient confidentiality is essential to ongoing trusting …show more content…
Approximately one in five women report sexual victimization at some point during their live (CDC, 2012). Posttraumatic stress disorder appears to be the most common diagnosis among female victims (Brown et al., 2009). Other illnesses that contribute to soaring healthcare cost include migraines, GI distress, sexually transmitted infections (Stevens, 2007), and unplanned pregnancies (CDC, 2012). Since women are believed to experience more traumatic consequences (Breiding, 2014), the aim is to identify victims through implementation of routine screenings in primary care and intervene appropriately. Since the next highest rate of sexual assault occurs in females’ young adult (CDC, 2012), the target population is females 17 to 25 years old. Limitations in current research identified by the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (2011) include lack of standardized screening tools, lack of support from healthcare providers due to time restraints, lack of training and knowledge, limited community resources, and providers feeling uneasy with the topic themselves. Therefore, educating and training is essential to implementing a policy and protocol specific to identifying and managing victims of sexual