Table 3.

Summary of the included studies.

Author(s), year and location	Title	Aim of the study	Methodology	Participants	Result relating to healthcare provided by nurses
Ramsay et al. (2012) UK.	Domestic violence: Knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practice of selected UK primary healthcare clinicians	To examine the current levels of competency of clinicians regarding DFV against women.	Cross-sectional survey as a phase of a randomised controlled trial. Survey Instrument: Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS). (Stata, version 10.1).	Primary healthcare clinicians in urban primary care trusts. Nurses n = 89 General Practitioners n = 183 Mean age of nurses was 46 (SD 8.1) years. Number of years of experience as a nurse: median 7 years (Interquartile range 4–12).	78.2% nurses had not diagnosed new DFV cases in the last 6 months. 80.9% nurses did not routinely ask patients about DFV. 45.1% of nurses provided women with DFV education or material resources, 55.4% did not have sufficient knowledge of referral resources and 87.3% were not familiar with a specific guideline. 62.5% nurses were unsure if they had a protocol to guide their DFV practice, and 40.5% were unsure if they had access to a camera for photographing DFV injuries. Over half (54.2%) of the nurses were unsure if they had adequate referral resources.
Soglin et al., 2009. US	Detection of Intimate Partner Violence in a General Medicine Practice	To examine the ability of a multifaceted approach to education linked with enhanced workers resources to promote identification of DFV.	Two-phase study, 1) prevalence of DFV was contrasted with physician identification of DFV in patient charts. 2) Evaluation of screening rates of the presence of DFV in all female patients (unaccompanied), pre/post a physician educational DFV intervention, and nurse-focused routine enquiry of 25% of female patients (when taking vitals, nurses asked patients two previously validated DFV screening queries). Screening rates were compared with those of the other 75% of patients.	Patient records of n = 306 women with a mean age of 40.5 years, of theses 99% had valid health insurance and 69% had an income between 25,000 and 100,000 USD. Number of nurse and physician participants not provided.	Review of patient records: Most (73%) women reported no history of DFV at baseline, and 27% reported a lifetime history of DFV, while current experience of DFV was reported by 4.2%. Introduction of routine enquiry (screening) by nurses showed a significant increase in reports of lifetime DFV (17.6%) when compared to usual care (2%), but there was no significant change (1% vs 1.3%) in current DFV identification.
Sundborg et al., 2012. Sweden.	Nurses’ preparedness to care for women exposed to intimate partner violence: A quantitative study in primary healthcare	To examine the preparedness of primary healthcare nurses to identify and care for women who were exposed DFV.	Questionnaire, 29-items, to examine nurses' preparedness, nurses' knowledge and personal attitudes toward DFV.	N = 192 nurses from n = 39 primary healthcare centres across rural and urban areas. Mean age 49 years (SD = 11.22). Number of years working as a nurse mean = 21 (SD = 10.37). Number of years working as a district nurse mean of 12 (SD = 6.44).	Most (70%) nurses were unaware of how to collaborate with specialised authorities when supporting patients experiencing DFV. 80% of nurses stated that they did not receive any vocational training about DFV, and 92% had not receive training about DFV within the last three years in their professional work. 82% of nurses were eager to be trained. 52% of nurses reported asking direct questions when DFV was suspected. Several nursing interventions were used when encountering suspected or identified abused women, such as, offering them appointments with doctors and providing them with information about volunteer organisations.
Sundborg et al., 2018. Sweden	Impact of an educational intervention for district nurses about preparedness to encounter women exposed to intimate partner violence	To evaluate the preparedness of primary healthcare nurses to encounter females exposed to DFV using an educational intervention	Observational quasi-experimental. Groups: intervention, control and national. Educational intervention methods: lectures, PowerPoint and group discussion. A survey was completed by all groups before the intervention and repeated by the intervention and control groups after a year.	A total of n = 538 district nurses were recruited in three groups: Intervention group n = 117 (80% aged ≥ 40 years; 43% worked as district nurses for ≥ 10 years) Control group n = 204 (91% aged ≥ 40 years; 64% worked as district nurses for ≥ 10 years) National group n = 217 (93% aged ≥ 40 years; 88% worked as district nurses for ≥ 10 years)	The educational intervention had a low impact on district nurses’ preparedness. Most significant finding was in the post-intervention group survey, nurses no longer perceived DFV as a private matter not to be discussed with patients (p= 0.003; 95% CI = 0.64; 2.78). Professional support by co-workers showed a decrease in the post-intervention survey (p= 0.032; 95% CI = 141; 0.03) suggesting that the nurses searched for support in their workplace and didn't find it.
Tschirch et al., 2006. US.	Nursing in tele-mental health	To provide women experiencing DFV with an assessment, referral, and recovery program.	A project of tele-mental health network. A classroom at a nursing school was used as a telemedicine clinic. The project was implemented by a collaborative team including a psychiatric nurse practitioner (PNP), family nurse practitioner (FNP), patient's shelter liaison and nursing school director. Mental health assessment tools included Symptom Checklist-90-R to measure treatment response and the Global Severity Index to measure level of distress.	N = 79 women who had experienced DFV, living in a women's shelter. Participants’ mean age 33 years. N = 38 women were referred for psychiatric evaluations, and n = 34 initiated treatment, with n = 25 being treated successfully. A total of 110 telemedicine visits were conducted.	Nurses were instrumental in identifying women experiencing DFV. 29% of the women had not received mental health assessment previously by a healthcare provider. A nurse practitioner provided a physical and mental health assessment including metabolic pathology investigations and alcohol and other drug screening. The nurse practitioner was female which was important for many of the women. The highest four symptoms identified by the SCL-90-R screening tool were psychosis, anxiety, somatisation and depression. 97% experienced mood and anxiety disorders. Major depression (49%) and posttraumatic stress (54%) were the most frequently occurring diagnoses. The service was rated extremely highly by the women receiving telemedicine.
Visentin et al., 2015. Brazil.	Women's primary care nursing in situations of gender violence	To identify the interventions conducted by nurses in primary healthcare settings for women experiencing DFV.	Exploratory-descriptive approach. Qualitative data collection through semi-structured interviews.	N = 17 primary healthcare nurses working in a community health unit, aged between 25 and 57 years, n = 14 female. Clinical experience ranged from 4 months to 21 years.	Building a relationship and connection with women to enable them to verbalise the violence was key. Referrals to specialist services were an integral part of care. Nurses identified their limitations when caring for people experiencing DFV, including lack of professional training, lack of time, feeling unprepared and difficulty recognising the presence of DFV and dealing with the situation of violence.