The Relationship Between the Forensic Nurse in the Emergency Department and Law Enforcement Officials

Abstract

This article describes the need for a collaborative relationship between the advanced practice forensic nurse in the emergency department and critical care settings with law enforcement officials. The relationship is necessary when working with victims and/or perpetrators in the context of the 27 categories of forensic patients.

Forensic patients in the emergency department: Who are they and how should we care for them?

“…The deceased forensic patients included victims of gunshots, stab wounds, motor vehicle and pedestrian vehicle accidents. Healthcare providers were able to identify some groups of forensic patients but need to familiarize themselves with the entire forensic patient population as identified by Pasqualone [4] and Pasqualone and Michel [23,24] in Table 2. Adapted from: Pasqualone [4] and Pasqualone and Michel [23,24].…”

“…The groups of forensic patients serves as a reminder to healthcare providers of the number of forensic patients possibly in their care as this may increase awareness and extend the specific forensic care provided. Pasqualone [4] identified forensic patients based on United States of America and Australian legislation, where there is specific legislation around each category. The groups of patients identified as the forensic population identified in Table 2 may differ in countries with other legal foundations [4].…”

“…Pasqualone [4] identified forensic patients based on United States of America and Australian legislation, where there is specific legislation around each category. The groups of patients identified as the forensic population identified in Table 2 may differ in countries with other legal foundations [4]. In South Africa the patients declared to be in need of forensic services includes victims of sexual assault, physical assault, psychological trauma, domestic violence, substance-, drugand alcohol-related injuries or violence, drunken driving, child abuse and elder abuse [25].…”

“…In South Africa the patients declared to be in need of forensic services includes victims of sexual assault, physical assault, psychological trauma, domestic violence, substance-, drugand alcohol-related injuries or violence, drunken driving, child abuse and elder abuse [25]. The list based on the South African context is not as detailed as the groups of forensic patients identified by Pasqualone [4] yet, the participants were able to identify the groups of patients often attended to in the EDs. However victims of psychological trauma, domestic violence, substance-drug and alcohol related injuries and drunken driving were omitted by the participants, further research and clarification for the omission in identifying these groups of patients is needed.…”

Expanding knowledge and roles for authority and practice boundaries of Emergency Department nurses: a grounded theory study

“…Nursing work in an ED is also involved in non-clinical dimensions of organizational and interdepartmental management (Nugus & Forero, 2011). Nursing work in an ED has also extended to the provision of health care services to the wider society in the event of disaster (Hammad, Arbon, Gebbie, & Hutton, 2012;Ranse et al, 2013;Usher et al, 2014) and in special cases such as forensic nursing (Çalışkan, Karadağ, Yıldırım, & Bingöl, 2014;Pasqualone, 2015). All of these findings give support to the link between the ED nursing role and advanced knowledge and skills at the speciality level that underpin the nursing role.…”