Is Forensic Nursing Really an Emerging Field?

Forensic nursing is an emerging field that combines nursing skills with forensic science and criminal investigation. It's a new wing in the American judiciary system. Forensic nurses are trained to carry out clinical diagnosis, provide legal nurse consulting, help with criminal prosecution cases and provide medical aid to victims. A forensic nurse is the mediator between medical sciences and law enforcement. At present there are around 75000 forensic nurses in the US. Their need and demand is ever increasing.

Forensic nursing has scope in various fields. Forensic nurses are first of all needed in the emergency room of a hospital. In the confusion and chaos of an emergency room often valuable evidence is lost. You never know if the critically injured patient was the victim of an accident or human violence. Many such victims of domestic violence or other criminal acts are admitted to a hospital where generally evidence against the criminal is overlooked and hence lost. The presence of a forensic nurse ensures that this does not happen. A Forensic nurse is fully trained to look into every aspect of the case and collect evidence. This way the criminal does not easily escape from the law. There is a desperate need to check the fast growing crime rates in our society which makes forensic nursing a necessity.

Forensic nurses also work with crime investigation teams. They collect medical evidence from the crime scene. They carry out diagnosis on the dead. They provide medical aid to the surviving victims. Nursing in forensic is most effective in cases of sexual violence. A victim of rape, molestation, child abuse or spousal abuse needs medical aid immediately. They also need the psychological support that only nurses can give them. The medical evidence of sexual violation also needs to be collected and examined in time. A forensic nurse can diagnose, collect evidence, provide medical aid and testify in court if the need arises. This can go a long way in getting the violator framed, tried and sentenced. This is also useful in giving psychiatric help to criminals. Nursing in forensic has a great role to play in criminal justice

Forensic nursing can also go beyond the sphere of crime investigation. When hurricane Katrina wrecked havoc in the Gulf States, forensic nurses were called in for identification of the dead. The remains of the victims could only be identified with the help of forensic science.

Forensic nursing is an exciting and challenging career prospect. It is especially good for those who want to give back to their society. Nursing in forensic is a wide field and has specializations for different works. Some of these are SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner), Emergency Room Nursing, Medical Legal Consultant, Medical Examiner's office, Medico-legal death investigator, Law enforcement teams, Evidence collection trainer and so on. Many people are worried that forensic nursing would require them to be surrounded by the dead and the criminals all the time. This is not true. You can choose your area of specialization and work within that area. So if working with the dead bothers you could choose other fields of specialization.

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