According to Kent-Wilkinson (2011), “forensic nursing is a nursing specialty with subspecialties that focus on nursing practice who care for victims and offenders, living and deceased at the clinical legal interface” (Kent-Wilkinson, 2011, p. 236). Providing a significant support for anti-violence efforts, forensic nurses practice in settings as diverse as the clients for whom they care; forensic nurses might treat survivors of assaults or violent accidents, investigate crime scenes, collect evidence and give testimony, as well as provide health care in correctional facilities. Forensic nurses practice in the healthcare system interacting closely with the criminal justice system, the child welfare system, the medical examiner and coroner systems, and the mental healthcare system. Depending on the focus of concentration in forensic nursing practice, interpersonal violence, non-medical deputy medical examiners, correctional nursing, and sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) can be distinguished. Therefore, forensic nursing goes far beyond medical care “bridging the gap between law and medicine” (Biden, 2015).
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After taking care of patients’ immediate medical needs and fragile emotional states, a forensic nurse might have to collect a package of forensic evidence, provide medical testimony in court, and work closely with legal authorities. For instance, a legal nurse consultant aids attorneys analyze and interpret medically related information in civil cases where the law and medicine overlaps, such as medical malpractice or an employee's injury. Therefore, forensic nurses are licensed registered nurses (RN) with extensive clinical experience, often in emergency/trauma, or women’s healthcare, who obtained specialized education and certification in the medico-legal
After taking care of patients’ immediate medical needs and fragile emotional states, a forensic nurse might have to collect a package of forensic evidence, provide medical testimony in court, and work closely with legal authorities. For instance, a legal nurse consultant aids attorneys analyze and interpret medically related information in civil cases where the law and medicine overlaps, such as medical malpractice or an employee's injury. Therefore, forensic nurses are licensed registered nurses (RN) with extensive clinical experience, often in emergency/trauma, or women’s healthcare, who obtained specialized education and certification in the medico-legal