Nurses' performance of trace preservation in sexual violence against women: an integrative review

ABSTRACT

Objective

to analyze the challenges for nurses' performance of trace preservation in cases of sexual violence against women discussed in the literature.

Method

this is an integrative review carried out in the SCOPUS, Cochrane, LILACS, MEDLINE and CINAHL databases and in Google Scholar in January 2021. The descriptors Sex Offenses and Forensic Nursing were used, combined with the Boolean operator AND. A total of 207 articles was found and 15 were selected.

Results

The identified challenges were: lack of human resources and training in forensic nursing; training of nurses to collect traces; limited performance of trace preservation procedures; conflicts between the nurse's role in care provision and in the collection of traces; absence of protocols or standardization of the existing ones; underreporting of sexual assault cases; lack of time and fear of liability or reprisal; absence of legal instruments to regulate the nurses’ attributions and role in the chain of evidence custody.

Conclusion and implications for practice

Actions aimed at training nurses and creating protocols, with expansion and implementation of the existing public policies, are essential to strengthen the role of nurses in trace preservation in cases of sexual violence against women.

Keywords:
Sex offenses; Forensic nursing; Women; Violence Against Women; Review