In a telephone survey conducted from November 1995 to May 1996, an estimated 1.9 million women were physically assaulted in the United States. A recent report using information from the National Incident-Based Reporting System found that, looking specifically at family violence, the majority of offenses were classified as simple assault, followed by aggravated assault and intimidation. The relationship of victim to offender was 37 percent spouse; 18 percent involved spouse as both offender and victim, as in the case of family disputes; and 8 percent involved each of the following: common law spouse, sibling, and child. Injury was sustained in 54 percent of the cases, with the majority minor in nature. Since the majority of assault victims are women, several organizations have focused their efforts on decreasing the incidence of violence against women. An assault sustained by a domestic violence victim is not a one-time event. Without proper and consistent screening for domestic violence, hospital emergency departments are missing the identification of the majority of domestic violence victims. Nurses are in the position to identify victims of abuse. The screening for domestic violence should consist of asking if the person feels safe in her current relationship, and if anyone has hit, slapped, shoved, pushed, kicked, of threatened this person presently or in the past. The answers should appear on the triage sheet of the patient’s chart. The screening should be performed during the initial assessment of the patient. The answers should appear on the triage sheet of the patient’s chart, unless the patient’s condition warrants immediate medical attention or it is inappropriate to inquire at the time (the inability to question the patient alone). If either situation occurs, the questions will be highlighted by the triage nurse as a means of alerting the treatment nurse who will then follow through with the screening. 15 references