A scoping review of nursing education for firearm safety.

BACKGROUND: Firearm violence, whether intentional or accidental, affects families worldwide. Nurses often encounter firearm-related injury and death with little knowledge or preparation for dealing with firearm safety issues. OBJECTIVES: The aim was to locate published research on nurse education in firearm safety and examine the preparation of nurses to deal with issues of firearm safety as a deterrent toward decreasing violence. The review included nurse perceptions of barriers and facilitators related to firearm safety in clinical situations. DESIGN: A literature scoping review for article identification, examination, and reporting was structured on the extended form of Arksey and O'Malley's 5-step design framework. DATA SOURCES: Databases CINAHL, MEDLINE, Sociological Abstracts, PsychInfo, and ERIC were searched for articles in English language published between 2010 and 2021 that included nurses in the studies' samples. REVIEW METHODS: Searches were managed via Covidence®, a literature screening and data extraction tool. Two independent reviewers screened the articles retrieved from the databases by title, abstract, and full-text review. Data from selected articles were extracted onto a spreadsheet and critically appraised for eligibility. RESULTS: A search of healthcare databases resulted in identification of 645 articles, of which 15 met inclusion criteria. Seven of the 15 articles addressed nurse firearm safety preparation, and seven related to counseling firearm safety for suicide prevention. Main barriers included lack of standardized guidelines, inadequate knowledge, and discomfort discussing firearm safety with patients and families. CONCLUSIONS: The scoping review findings show a noticeable gap: nurse education addressing firearm safety is, for all purposes, non-existent. A need exists for evidence-based training within academic curricula and across acute and behavioral healthcare settings.

Why some parents made firearms more accessible during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic: results from a national study.

The objective of this study was to assess parents' firearm storage behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic and characterize reasons why some parents made their firearms more accessible during this time. In June-July 2020, the study team conducted the FACTS National Survey-a cross-sectional, web-based, survey of 2,924 parents and their teens (ages14-18) regarding firearm-related practices. We weighted descriptive analyses to be nationally representative of parents of teens in the United States. We utilized qualitative thematic analysis to identify parents' reasons for making firearms more accessible. Five percent of firearm-owning parents of teens reported making their firearms more accessible during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Reasons why parents increased the ease of firearm access included: (1) Increased civil unrest and riots; (2) Threat of home invasion and/or crime victimization; (3) Fear of panic and the unknown; and (4) Easier access and greater protection, threat unspecified. Some parents-largely motivated by fear-chose to store firearms in a more accessible manner during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to protect their family against possible external threats. Understanding the fear that motivates parents' decisions regarding storage practices might aid interventions focused on harm reduction and safer storage.