Merkouris Anastasios
The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the attitudes and perceptions of healthcare professionals in the prefecture of Lasithi against the phenomenon of abused women, as well as their level of knowledge in identifying and managing the women-victims in a holistic way.Material Method A descriptive survey design was employed. Data was collected by using a self – administered questionnaire. The sample consisted of ninety one (91) health professionals (25 physicians and 66 medical nurses) working in pathology, surgery, orthopedic, maternity and emergency units of hospitals in the prefecture of Lasithi. Measures of central tendency and measures of dispersion (average value, standard deviation, range) were implemented for continuous variables, while discrete variables and clustered data were expressed as percentages.Results The findings reveal that health professionals believe that the psychological consequences of violence against women affect more the victims themselves (mean 4.64 ± 0.59) and the family as a unit (mean 4.47 ± 0.59). Also, the participants believe that violence against women is always (38.4%) or occasionally (52.5%) manifested in the form of bodily injuries. The participants also reported that in the context of their professional skills they provide to women-victims with medical care (80.5%), nursing care (94.4%), and warm attention (97.8%), in addition to registering the women’s bodily injuries (92.1%). Furthermore, they provide psychological support (97.8%), inform the women-victims about their rights (70.1%) and about other services abused women can resort to for help (80.7%).Conclusions Health care professionals don’t have the required training and skills to cope with and manage aggression against women in a professional manner. To be able to tackle the issue of women abuse physicians and medical nurses need the proper training and screening protocols, in addition to personal sensitization.
