Evaluation of a curriculum for intimate partner violence screening in a pediatric emergency department.

Objective: We sought to describe the assessment of course participant changes in attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors after completion of the Its Time to Ask training curriculum for screening for intimate partner violence (IPV) in a pediatric emergency department (PED).

Methods: A 22-item Likert scale questionnaire was administered at baseline (before training), after training, and at 6-month follow-up to PED employee participants in a 2-hour IPV education program. Mean participant responses were compared between baseline/posttraining and baseline/6-month follow-up. Participants also completed a course-satisfaction survey.

Results: A total of 79 PED staff completed the baseline questionnaire before the training. Eighty-seven participants completed the posttraining questionnaire, and 48 completed the 6-month follow-up questionnaire. Participants had consistent, positive changes in attitudes after training that persisted at the 6-month follow-up for 5 items on the questionnaire. Attitudes that did not change showed baseline means already in disagreement with questionnaire statements. Participants reported significant, positive changes for all 7 self-efficacy statements at 1 or both of the posttraining evaluations. The only changes in behavior were observed at 6 months. The majority of participants were satisfied with the training and would recommend it to colleagues.

Conclusions: Significant, self-reported changes in attitudes, self-efficacy, and behaviors/clinical practice regarding screening for IPV in a PED can be achieved through participation in a brief training curriculum.