Psychology

One of the major causes of death and disability of children in many countries including America is violence. Violence affects children both when it is directed to them and when they become witnesses to the same. When a child witnesses a violent incidence, heshe is prone to suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, grief reactions and even depression. A general nurse can play an important role in preventing and mitigating the effects of peer violence. This paper aims at analyzing the intervention measures a general nurse can take either to prevent violence from occurring or to reduce the magnitude of the harm that would be as a result of peer violence (Sege, 2009).

Programs that promote positive youth development can be used to reduce cases of peer violence. Under such programs, the youth are encouraged to acquire a strong bond among them. This is because it has been established that peer violence occurs mostly among friends. Competence that has social, emotional, behavioral, cognitive and moral dimension is very important in building such a bond. It is also important for nurses to foster resilience, spirituality, clear and positive identity, self determination, self efficacy, pro-social norms and belief in the future among the youth. Studies have actually shown that strong neighborhood ties are associated with lower levels of violence. Creating such a bond would therefore be the aim of any general nurse while interacting with peer groups (Sege, 2009).

Access to means of violence is one of the contributing factors to increased rates of violence among peers. A general nurse should be interested in both the perpetrator and the victim. This is because these two groups may be caught up in a culture of using violence to solve problems. This problem gets complicated when such people have access to means of violence. Such access may include watching violent media, involvement in domestic violence, easy access to firearms, involvement in gangs, violent discipline, violence related to fury as well as alcohol and drug abuse. To reduce violence, efforts should be made to deny peers access to methods of promoting violence. Parents should be encouraged to dissuade their children from involving themselves in violent activities. This can be partly achieved by making it possible for peers to access means of violence (Sege, 2009).
A general nurse should take measures that will establish whether a violent incident has occurred. This should be done regularly when the youth visit health care centers asking questions related to violence, depending with the age of the victim. For youth, direct questions are the most important ways of identifying whether violence has occurred. Questions regarding fights, injuries, sexual violence, threats and self defense should be asked. This will help the nurse establish important facts about the incident and take the necessary actions (Sege, 2009).

Once a nurse has established that violence occurred, heshe should classify the risks involved. This is known as risk stratification. Behaviors that are risky are mostly to be found together. In this stratification, there is low risk, moderate risk and high risk behaviors. If teenagers in schools do not either fight or use drugs, the risk of violence related injury is minor (Sege, 2009). However, those teenagers who attend schools and either use drugs or engage in fights face a higher risk of sustaining injuries caused by violence. There are classified as moderate risk behavior. Office counseling is normally successful for such individuals. Adolescents who fail or drop out of school and either fight or use drugs are at the highest risk of being injured by violent activities such adolescents should be referred to a social work for help (Sege, 2009).

Anticipatory guidance is a successful intervention measure a general nurse can use to prevent violence among peers. It is important for a nurse to identify those issues that may lead to violence among peers and address them appropriately. Such issues include the presence of firearms at home, domestic violence, violent punishment, and media among others (Sege, 2009).

It is important for parents to be encouraged to avoid keeping firearms in their homes. If this is unavoidable, such arms should be kept in a locked safe and should never be loaded. Ammunition should be kept in a safe place separately. Regarding media, adolescents should be encouraged to limit their total media time to less than one or two hours a day. It is also important that parents choose the programs to be watched in addition to using controversial scenes to educate the youth on sexuality violence and the need for strong family ties among others (Sege, 2009).

General Nurses should also give the necessary support to women experiencing domestic violence. They should also disseminate information that can save them from their ordeal. This would help reduce violence rates among peers. Finally nurses should educate parents on means, which are violent free, to punish their children. Violent punishments show youth that it is appropriate for them to use violence to solve problems. This should be avoided at all costs (Sege, 2009).

It is important for nurses to advice the youth to engage in pro-social groups. Such groups provide protection for adolescents hence dissuading them from involving themselves in acts of violence. Examples of such groups include after school programs, athletics and church based youth activities (Sege, 2009).

It is therefore evident from the above discussion that a general nurse has a major role to play in preventing violence among peers. Such a nurse as discussed above can also play a part in reducing the harm caused by peer violence.