A Comparison of Intimate Partner Violence Between Jordanian Nurses and Jordanian Women Ahlam Al-Natour, PhD, MSN, RN 1 , Gordon Lee Gillespie, PhD, PHCNS-BC, FAEN 2 , Lihshing Leigh Wang, PhD 2 , and Dianne Felblinger, EdD, MSN, RN, WHNP-BC, CNS 2 ABSTRACT Intimate partner violence is a serious international problem. It is not known if the extent of intimate partner violence for Jordanian nurses is similar to that of Jordanian women. Until the rate is known, implementation of nursing interventions for Jordanian women may be thwarted. The study purpose was to determine the rate of intimate partner violence among Jordanian nurses working in governmental health settings in a northern city of Jordan and to compare the rate to published statistics for a community sample of Jordanian women. A cross-sectional survey design was used for this study. A stratified random sample of 80 Jordanian nurses working in governmental women’s health centers and public hospitals in a northern city of Jordan was invited to participate. Institutional review board approval was granted. Participants completed the Woman Abuse Screening Tool in a private room at their work site. No identifiers were added to the survey forms. Chi-squared goodness-of-fit tests were computed to compare the rate of intimate partner violence between the study sample and reported statistics for Jordanian women. Approximately 59% of participants experienced psychological violence, 12.5% experienced physical violence, and 5.1% experienced sexual violence. No significant differences were found in the rates of violence for the study sample and published data for a community sample of Jordanian women. Intimate partner violence is as prevalent against Jordanian nurses as it is for Jordanian women. Intimate partner violence needs to be addressed to prevent potential sequelae such as decreased work productivity and an inability to provide safe patient care. KEY WORDS: emotional; intimate partner violence; Jordan; nurses; physical; psychological; sexual P hysical, sexual, and psychological violence against intimate partners continues to be a global phe- nomenon with a detrimental impact on community health. Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been reported among 10 countries to be as high as 71% (Garcia- Moreno, Jansen, Ellsberg, Heise, & Watts, 2006). The frequency rate of IPV against women in Jordan is as high as 19.6% for physical violence and 47.5% for psychological violence enacted by their husbands (Al-Nsour, Khawaja, & Al-Kayyali, 2009). IPV results in poor physical and mental health. IPV sequelae include headaches, unwanted pregnancies, spon- taneous abortions, gastrointestinal disorders, depression, and poor overall health (Campbell et al., 2002; Garcia- Moreno et al., 2006; Mburia-Mwalili, Clements-Nolle, Lee, Shadley, & Yang, 2010; Svavarsdottir & Orlygsdottir, 2009). Furthermore, about 38% of IPV victims incur physical injuries (Btoush, Campbell, & Gebbie, 2009; Fletcher, 2010). Not surprisingly, IPV is associated with a greater utilization of healthcare services (Fletcher, 2010). Female nurses, like women in the general population, are at risk for victimization by their intimate partners. Bracken, Messing, Campbell, La Flair, and Kub (2010) Author Affiliations: 1 Jordan University of Science and Technology, and 2 University of Cincinnati. This study was funded by the Sigma Theta Tau International Small Grant. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Correspondence: Gordon Lee Gillespie, PhD, PHCNS-BC, FAEN, College of Nursing, University of Cincinnati, 2600 Clifton Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45220. E-mail: gordon.gillespie@uc.edu. Received May 20, 2013; accepted for publication October 29, 2013. Copyright © 2014 International Association of Forensic Nurses DOI: 10.1097/JFN.0000000000000016 Original Article Journal of Forensic Nursing www.journalforensicnursing.com 13 Copyright © 2014 International Association of Forensic Nurses. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.