Intimate partner violence against women.

Intimate partner violence against women has received considerable attention from nurse-researchers over the past 10 years. Although the amount and sophistication of both quantitative and qualitative research have changed over time, nursing research on intimate partner violence against women has not lost its perspective; nurse-researchers have continued to address women survivors' full range of human responses to violence. Research into violence during pregnancy and battered women's psychological responses to abuse have received considerable attention. Research into violence during pregnancy and battered women's psychological responses to abuse have received considerable attention. Research into violence during pregnancy accounts for fully 20% of all the reviewed nursing research. The largely qualitative research into women's psychological responses to violence is particularly rich and remarkably similar across multiple studies. International studies on intimate partner violence are beginning to appear in the literature and research that addresses the unique experience of ethnically diverse women is occurring with greater frequency. The purpose of this chapter is to review nursing research on intimate partner violence against women in the past decade. Future directions for nursing research, practice, and education are included.