The impact of childhood sexual abuse on the psychological well-being and practice of nurses

Abstract

This study compares the psychological well-being of nurses who were sexually abused as children with those who were not abused and considers the impact of this abuse on aspects of their clinical practice. On the psychological measures, abused nurses differed from the nonabused nurses by having significantly higher distress scores and lower self-esteem scores. For some nurses, the abuse influenced their private and professional relationships including personal sexual relationships and working with other health professionals. These results highlight the need for the educational and health care systems to consider the needs of health care professionals who may have been abused.