NAMED study
Nursing And Midwifery professionals’ Experiences of Domestic abuse (NAMED) study will explore the domestic abuse experiences and support needs of nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers across the UK
Research shows that nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers are more likely to experience domestic abuse than the general population and rarely feel able to seek support. Almost 90% of survivors working in healthcare say they face barriers to disclosure and seek help at work, with the available support lacking visibility, and being limited to short-term practical help.
In recent years, the RCN Foundation Benevolent Service has seen a rise in the number of grants awarded to those fleeing domestic abuse. In 2021 3% of grants were awarded to domestic abuse survivors, whereas in 2022, this had risen to 14% and consistently remains around this level.
We are funding a study to explore the domestic abuse experiences and support needs of nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers across the UK. The research will be undertaken by Dr Alison Gregory, Honorary Senior Research Fellow at the University of Bristol and a specialist researcher in domestic abuse.
Deepa Korea, RCN Foundation Director said: “In 2024, 11% of the hardship grants we awarded were to nurses, midwives and healthcare support workers experiencing domestic violence, a figure that rises year on year. This is a vital piece of research that I hope will make a fundamental change – not only to nursing and midwifery professionals experiencing domestic violence, but also to the discourse and research surrounding this topic.”