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Exhibition: Nurses Take A Stand

Nurses were among the first to identify women who were battered as a population with specific health needs that were largely neglected by the medical community.

Through both their research and practice, nurses saw firsthand the epidemic of violence in women’s lives. In response, they prioritized improvements in the medical attention and treatment for women who were battered.

Whether in nursing school or working in emergency rooms, nurses were in a unique position to recognize and address domestic violence as a pressing health crisis for millions of women.

  • A group photograph of nursing researchers and activists at Denison Memorial Library, University of Colorado, Denver, ca. 1990s

    From left to right: Yvonne Ulrich, Laura McKenna, Barbara Parker, Karen Landenburger, Judith McFarlane, Christine King, Josephine Ryan, Doris Campbell, Jacquelyn Campbell, Daniel Sheridan

    Courtesy National Library of Medicine

    During the 1990s, these nurses, all members of the Nursing Consortium on Violence and Abuse, conducted three major research projects on domestic violence and health, all funded by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health.

  • A group photograph of nursing researchers and activists at Denison Memorial Library, University of Colorado, Denver, ca. 1990s

    From left to right: Yvonne Ulrich, Laura McKenna, Barbara Parker, Karen Landenburger, Judith McFarlane, Christine King, Josephine Ryan, Doris Campbell, Jacquelyn Campbell, Daniel Sheridan

    Courtesy National Library of Medicine

    During the 1990s, these nurses, all members of the Nursing Consortium on Violence and Abuse, conducted three major research projects on domestic violence and health, all funded by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institutes of Health.

Nurses were among the first to identify women who were battered as a population with specific health needs that were largely neglected by the medical community.

Through both their research and practice, nurses saw firsthand the epidemic of violence in women’s lives. In response, they prioritized improvements in the medical attention and treatment for women who were battered.

Whether in nursing school or working in emergency rooms, nurses were in a unique position to recognize and address domestic violence as a pressing health crisis for millions of women.