Forensic nursing is a new specialty in the field of nursing. It covers the duties of helping the survivors of the criminal activities, collecting every possible forensic evidences and making available health care facilities to the prisoners. There is not one type of a forensic nurse and forensic nurse has also not deal with dead bodies at all the time. This depends on the career or the sub-specialty you have chosen. A forensic nurse is free to choose the specialization area according to her own interest. There are many of the sub-specialties in the field of forensic nursing like Forensic Clinic Specialist, Forensic Lab Expert, Death Investigator or Nurse Coroner, Legal Consultant, Sexual Assault Examiner, Forensic Gerontology Expert, Forensic Psychiatric and Forensic Correctional Nurse. These were just a few options there are a lot more.
A forensic nurse has to assist the victims of sexual assault by providing for their physical as well as psychological requirements.
A forensic nurse in the form of an investigator delivers her duties at the crime scene. The forensic nurse has to cooperate with the detectives on duty, examine the dead body, take blood samples, take necessary photographs of the body as well as the crime scene itself keep superior records and arrange for the body to be taken to the morgue. There are some additional responsibilities too like assisting the pathologist for the collection of evidence.
A death investigator is also one of the specialties in forensic nursing. A nurse coroner is the first one to arrive at the crime scene. The nurse also has to provide for the rough estimate of the death according to her training in forensic sciences. There is a possibility that the nurse can also find out if the deceased person had some medical problems because of which he had to die.
A Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner is the one who has to deal with the victims of sexual assault. The crime victims have to answer to various people like news reporters, detective officials and such. This would certainly be a horrible experience for them. These nurses have to look after the medical and the emotional requirements of the injured party. Also, they have to gather certain evidences which may be presentable at the court. A Sexual Assault Examiner Nurse has to be a witness at the court of law if required.
Legal consultant nurses are generally hired by the law representatives or insurance companies in the form of witnesses at the court. When the issues extend beyond the legal ones, then it is the Legal Consultant Nurse who has to explain and justify the issues to the public prosecutor and the jury.
.The mentally challenged individuals gain the services of the Forensic Psychiatric Nurse. The nurses have to assess, treat and manage the mentally disabled at the institution.
Forensic nursing also helps the elderly people who suffer from abuse, neglect and exploitation in the form of a Forensic Gerontology Nurse.
If you are the one who enjoys an energized workplace and drama taking place everyday in the emergency room then forensic nursing is for you.