Why are more people getting interested in forensic nursing programs? The growing need for professionals with the proper training to handle victims of assault, violence and trauma is growing. Unlike most patients, they need special attention and focus due to their circumstances. If years as a clinical nurse has burnt you out, or if you seek more challenge as a health care provider, this is one area to look into.
Forensic nursing is a relatively new branch. But its importance is being recognized not only because it is a means to serve justice, but also to help victims initially cope with their horrible experience.
How To Prepare For Forensic Nursing Programs?
If you want to join the growing number of professionals who have found a more fulfilling purpose as a forensic nurse, then here are three things you need:
- You must be a registered nurse and have at least two full of years experience in clinical nursing.
- You need to complete any of the forensic nursing programs that will train you in methodology and provide you with the knowledge pertaining to the legal aspect of the job.
- You must meet the required number of clinical or practical hours in your forensic nursing program to qualify for individual assignments.
A registered nurse (RN) training can mean either completing an associate degree in nursing (ADN) or a bachelor of science in nursing (BSN) program. This is essential, as well as gaining a couple of years experience, to familiarize yourself with the routine involved in patient care and be equipped with the medical knowledge necessary to perform the job well.
Aside from already being a registered nurse, you need a current license to qualify for forensic nursing. Although there are credentials necessary to be recognized as a professional, there is no separate license required to practice.
Once you decide to get the proper training in forensics, you may also choose a sub-specialty to focus on. Most professionals in this field start as sexual assault forensics examiner (SAFE), but there are courses that focus on children, the elderly, death investigation, and even educating the community.
What Forensic Nursing Programs Are Available?
There are three ways to get training for this nursing specialization: earn a masters degree in nursing, with focus on forensics which will take two years; complete the shorter certification courses which immerse you into the specialization in four to six months or, via continuing education programs that are required of nurses for renewal of their licenses.
There are several acronyms that pertain to forensic nurses, but they usually perform similar functions. Aside from providing health care and emotional support, these professionals may be called upon in a court of law as an expert to testify as to the extent of injuries suffered by a victim following their examination and present evidence that they personally collected and recorded.
Forensic nursing programs vary in the way they are called and you may end up being referred to as SAFE, SANE (sexual assault nursing examiner), FSE (forensic nurse examiner), SANC (sexual assault nurse clinician) or SAE (sexual assault examiner). However, certification is one and the same granted by the International Association of Forensic Nurses. The test has two categories, SANE-A for adults and adolescents and SANE-P, for pediatrics.
Other credentials to validate your expertise in this specialized filed are the Certified Forensic Nurse granted by the American College of Forensic Examiners, and the nurse death investigators from the American Board of Medicolegal Death Investigators, if these are the areas you focused on.
Certification is especially important to add to your credibility when you sit in court as fact or expert witness. Eventually, you may develop your expertise and reputation and work as a legal nurse consultant.
What Coursework Is Needed For Forensic Nursing?
What differentiates forensic nursing from clinical nursing is the purpose for providing immediate medical attention to victims. There is usually a time-sensitive window of 72 hours within which you must collect the evidence from victims of assault, abuse or violent accidents to preserve evidence. The job requires speed, accuracy as well as compassion so the victim is not further traumatized.
The medical procedure is something you are already familiar with having worked as a nurse. But it is the legal aspect that you need to learn in forensic nursing training. Coursework for most forensic nursing programs usually include: victimology, perpetrator theory, forensic mental/psychiatric health, interpersonal violence, criminology and criminal justice.
In particular, you will learn about crime scene investigation, evidence collection in the emergency department, chain of custody, and forensic evidence collection in the clinical setting. A forensic nurse handles fibers, hair, skin, and fluids that are used for DNA testing.
You will also need to master the skills in using certain tools necessary in your collection and evaluation of evidence, which includes a digital camera to the more complex Omnichrome that detects bruising under the skin and the colposcope that is a specialized camera-cum-microscope used for genital injuries.
Where To Get The Training
There is a growing number of schools that now offer forensic nurse training, either as a specialization or through electives and certificate courses. Although you can enroll in a program that offers a traditional learning set-up, accredited nursing programs online are becoming increasingly popular. A minimum of 40 hours for didactics is required for these online programs, and another 40 hours for clinical training.
The American Forensic Nurses in particular has tied up with universities and educational institutions to provide forensic nursing programs online. The American Institute of Forensic Education, Inc. helped put together the curricula for the various training programs.
With the University of California-Riverside, it offers the Sexual Assault Examination: Adult/Adolescent Female and Male program, which prepares RNs and other qualified health care professionals in conducting forensic evaluations for victims of sexual assault. It is a 40-hour comprehensive training (instructional) with another 45 hours for clinical internship.
It also has the comprehensive Forensic Nursing Certificate program, completion of which will allow you to seek opportunities in law enforcement, social services agencies and medical examiner’s offices. You learn not just about sexual assault but also acts of violence, trauma, mass casualty incidents, and other forms of human abuse like negligence.
Greenville Technical College also offers forensic nursing courses developed by AIFE, among them Basic Evidence Collection, Reproductive Anatomy of the Male and Female, Child Maltreatment and Identification of Injuries and Elder Abuse.
Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing has likewise developed a MSN-Clinical Nurse Specialist with focus on Forensic Nursing.
Without a doubt, you can expand your career and even find it more fulfilling after completing any of the forensic nursing programs now being offered.