Graduate Forensic Nursing Education: How to Better Educate Nurses to Care for this Patient Population

Evaluation of Fundamental Forensic Knowledge and Perceived Ability in Emergency Nurse Practitioner Education via Forensic Simulation

INTRODUCTION

The need for trauma care and forensic services is among the top five reasons for seeking healthcare in the United States. Critical aspects of caring for a forensic patient include early recognition of the need for implementing forensic approaches to care: assessment, evidence collection and preservation, and forensic documentation. The intent of this study was to examine fundamental forensic knowledge and perceived ability of graduate-level emergency nurse practitioner students.

METHODS

The study was designed to assess fundamental forensic knowledge of graduate-level emergency nurse practitioners using a pretest-and-posttest prospective design utilizing simulation.

RESULTS

Students showed an increase in their knowledge of forensic nursing concepts from pretest to posttest (t(39) = 9.63, p < 0.001). In addition, there was an increase in students' perceived ability (confidence) to recognize the forensic aspects of patient care. Two unexpected findings were revealed during debriefing. Although the students were interested in gaining forensic knowledge, they felt it was more important to know when to refer a patient rather than to gain the requisite knowledge to perform forensic functions on their own. Furthermore, students developed an awareness of how their previous clinical experiences influenced their care.

CONCLUSION

Findings from this study will inform further development of graduate-level nursing education to include forensic and multidisciplinary simulation exercises.

The approach of prehospital health care personnel working at emergency stations towards forensic cases

Objectives

The objective of this study is to determine the states of health care personnel, working at 112 emergency stations in the province of Artvin, to encounter with regarding forensic cases and determine their practices aimed at recognizing, protecting, and reporting the evidences that may affect the forensic process.

Materials and methods

This descriptive study was conducted with nurses and emergency medicine technicians working at 112 emergency stations in Artvin between January 2013 and February 2014.

Results

Of 141 health personnel that constituted sample of the study, 48.9% were nurses, 9.9% emergency medicine technicians, and 41.1% ambulance and emergency care technicians. The rate of feeling sufficient in coping with forensic cases and incidents was 20.6%. There was a lower rate of receiving education about the approach towards forensic cases (15.6%). In the study, the frequency of encountering with at least one forensic case was 88.7%. Traffic accidents (72.5%), suicides (41.5%) and assaults (41.5%) were among the most frequent reasons of forensic cases. The practices of nurses were more successful in woundings by firearms compared to other health personnel (p < 0.05). The rate of recognizing the evidences was 81.6–96.5%. Almost one fourth of the personnel had no sufficient information about storing and protecting the evidences.

Conclusions

The personnel working at 112 emergency stations in the province of Artvin frequently encounter with forensic cases. The personnel with higher educational level and nurses have more successful practices in forensic cases. Health personnel have approaches that may negatively affect the solution of forensic cases.