With great sadness, The Maryland Health Care Coalition Against Domestic Violence recognizes the tragic loss of three nurses in Maryland due to domestic violence. The victims, Tara Labang and Wendy Natalie Black, were shot and killed by their former partner, also a nurse, before he took his own life. [See article here.]
Acknowledging the statistic of about 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men have experienced some form of physical violence by an intimate partner in their lifetime, it is realistic to understand that violence is happening in our own hospital families.[i] According to the Maryland Hospital Association, Maryland hospitals employ over 108,000 doctors, nurses and other support staff.[ii] In fact, hospital systems often rank as the State’s largest employers. The staggering statistic of 1 in 3 and 1 in 4 could translate to tens of thousands of people who work in the medical setting that are also experiencing abuse in their relationship. Domestic violence can occur in any relationship regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, gender, education level, socioeconomic background or occupation. The abuse one suffers can spill over into the workplace by means of loss of productivity or by threat of danger. As a hospital system, we need to address intimate partner violence for our patients, our staff and our communities. Every person deserves to live a safe, nonviolent life.
The Maryland Health Care Coalition Against Domestic Violence has a mission to improve the health industry’s response to intimate partner violence. We are comprised of several hospital based DV programs and allied professionals. If your hospital or medical setting is in need of information and/or education on intimate partner violence, contact us.
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[i] https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf
[ii] https://www.mhaonline.org/transforming-health-care/workforce
