Acessibilidade / Reportar erro

Nurses' experiences caring for child victims of domestic violence: a phenomenological analysis

The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of nurses in their care of child victims of domestic violence. Using the phenomenological social approach by Alfred Schütz, 15 nurses who work in emergency, intensive care and pediatric inpatient units were interviewed. Analysis based on the Motivational Theory of Schütz allowed the description of the lived type, supported by three categories that express significant elements of the nurse's experience: contact with the violence, ambivalent reactions and protective professional attitude. The lifeworld of the nurses who care for child victims of domestic violence is composed of various dimensions that generate a constant state of attention, and reactions that cause indignation, anxiety, sadness and a sense of helplessness, which need to be internally managed in the course of his/her care.

Violence; Child; Family; Nursing; Qualitative research


Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Programa de Pós Graduação em Enfermagem Campus Universitário Trindade, 88040-970 Florianópolis - Santa Catarina - Brasil, Tel.: (55 48) 3721-4915 / (55 48) 3721-9043 - Florianópolis - SC - Brazil
E-mail: textoecontexto@contato.ufsc.br