This project was initiated to improve the quality of identification and response practices of Emergency Department (ED) nursing staff dealing with possible victims of domestic violence (DV). Nursing staff were trained to identify three key actions in the pathway for domestic violence presentations in the ED. A survey of ED staff was taken pre-training to determine a base-line measure of self-reported knowledge regarding domestic violence policies and practices. The survey was re-administered 1 month and 6 months post-training. A file audit was also undertaken prior to and following the training. Results show the training improved the nurses' confidence, practice and skills in the identification of, and response to, domestic violence, particularly in relation to children. ED nurses are well placed to identify and respond to domestic violence as the ED provides a gateway into health services for women and their children. This paper reports on a participatory action research project which aimed to improve quality and practice around DV for ED staff. The dissemination of the results in this paper are considered to be essential to health services due to dearth of information and research about best practice initiatives for responding to and recognizing domestic violence in the ED.

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This article presents findings from an empirical study of 23 parents with mental illness in New South Wales, Australia. Discussion focuses on the prevailing risk discourse associated with parental mental illness which suggests a limited capacity to parent. Risk assessment practice creates expectations about parenting ability, often utilizing rigid, inflexible and predetermined categorical information. This approach limits social work practice. The discussion presents an insight into how parents manage mental illness and how they manage risk. The narratives of the parents encourage social workers to increase their skills in family-focused working practices to enhance engagement with these families.

This article provides an insight into the under-explored lives of parents with mental illness. In particular, this article considers the experiences of parents with mental illness who grew up with parents who also had mental illness, or experienced issues related to violence, abuse and neglect during childhood. Due to the dearth of research in this area there is minimal insight into how parents experience mental illness and even less significance is placed on exploring how intergenerational mental illness and backgrounds of violence, abuse and neglect impact on parenthood. This qualitative study generates information about how intergenerational family mental illness, and other issues identified in the course of the study, affected the participants' experiences of being a parent.