“When, Why, and at What Cost?” A Trauma-informed Pedagogy for Teaching Family Violence in Nurse Education

Keywords

domestic violence, ethics, family violence, intimate partner violence, nursing education, resilience, teaching, trauma-informed pedagogy

Abstract

Learning how to recognise and respond to disclosures of family violence is a core component of nurse education, yet this learning often occurs in classrooms and clinical environments where some students and educators may themselves be survivors. Across nursing programs, pedagogical approaches often emphasise recognising and responding to patients affected by family violence yet give limited attention to the vulnerabilities of students and academic faculty or the potential for re-traumatisation when the topic arises in educational settings. Using a trauma-informed lens, we examine the ethical dimensions of disclosure within classroom and clinical learning environments, focusing on how power, professional expectations, and institutional cultures shape what can be safely disclosed. We argue that unsolicited invitations to "share our stories", as well as blanket appeals to "professional boundaries", both risk harming those already living with family violence and obscuring the educator's duty of care. We propose principles for safer pedagogical practice, including explicit attention to role boundaries, advanced framing of sensitive content, meaningful opt-out options, and clear pathways for support when disclosures occur. While grounded in nursing, the issues explored are relevant across health professional education internationally, where family violence is taught within trauma-exposed student and academic faculty populations.

Original Publication Citation

Bond, C., Watson, A. L., & Jackson Ao, D. (2026). "When, why, and at what cost?" Towards a trauma-informed pedagogy for learning about family violence in nurse education. Nurse education today, 167, 107308. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2026.107308

Document Type

Peer-Reviewed Article

Publication Date

2026-07-22

Publisher

Nurse Education Today

Language

English

College

Nursing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Assistant Professor

Link to Full Text

Share

COinS