So, yesterday I had my pre-surgical phone screen wherein a nice nurse from the hospital calls you and confirms all the stuff you've previously spent twenty minutes filling in online. Oh, it's not as if it's totally a waste of time. The nice nurse also gives you instructions about prep (some of which were slightly different from that which were on the paper I'd gotten in the mail) and where to go and what to do, etc. And I suppose some people have complicated medical histories which need clarification. But in my case it was mostly her running through the questions I'd already answered and confirming my responses.
There was this one question though. "Do you feel safe at home?" After I'd answered in the affirmative, she kind of laughed apologetically and said, "That's just a domestic violence/partner abuse screening question we have to ask." Well, I know. They asked me the same question when I was registering at the ER a couple weeks ago. That at least held the potential for comedy. "No! My partner sprayed me in the face with cleaning fluid!" or, even better, "No! My partner forces me to do housework, and see what happens? See?"
But all joking aside, this strikes me as the kind of well-meaning and totally useless bureaucracy that, frankly, is all I have come to expect in any solutions to social problems. I would like to see the statistics on the number of women going in for semi-elective surgery or non-beating-related emergency room visits who decide on hearing this question to suddenly unburden themselves of the secret they've been keeping for weeks, months, or years. My guess is that the number probably hovers around zero. But whoever legislated this into existence can pat themselves on the back for doing something about the horrible problem of DV.
I dunno. I suppose there's the chance that after being asked that question twenty times in twenty different medical situations *maybe* it might wake someone up who's been mired in denial. Anything is possible, right? But I kinda think it's more likely to provoke the kind of shame that makes people keep hiding their situations.
xoxo
1 comment:
I first encountered this back in 2004 when I went to urgent care, cant recall what for, I think it was pinkeye, not sure. But they asked me that. I said "Yes, Im fine" then when the nurse took my BP she noticed a bruise on my arm, from running into a door, really it was, back then (pre yoga) I was very clumsy and did run into things and get bruises I had no idea how I got them. She asked me how I got it, I told her "I ran into a door, really, I did." She appeared skeptical, but didnt mention it again.
I agree with you that that question wont lead to any confessions. Most women in abusive relationships either dont seek medical care, or will do anything possible to keep it from being discovered. JMHO.
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