Immediately I knew this would be a new allied field within my nursing specialty — Burn/Trauma/Peds ICU. Having reached 19 years of experience in a regional trauma hospital, Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, WA, I came to a point in my professional career where I wanted more from nursing. Forensic nursing has become that new focus. The immeasurable experience and expansive education I am receiving, while also working at the King County Medical Examiner Office (KCMEO) as an autopsy assistant, is reinforcing my desire to expand into the field of forensics. My co-workers at KCMEO are my driving force as I continue my nursing career while completing my BSN and begin preparation for a MSN with a forensic concentration. I am sad to report that the educational opportunities of advanced education for forensic nurses in the Pacific Northwest is very lacking, as we are highly evolved in other areas of health care. To further my instruction, I need to look beyond our local area for other options such as distance learning.   
In 1995, the American Nurses Association officially recognized the International Association of Forensic Nurses, formed in 1992, and forensic nursing as a nursing specialty. Forensic nursing involves applying clinical and scientific knowledge to questions of law, as well as assisting in the civil or criminal investigation of survivors of traumatic injury and/or patient treatment.  
Interpersonal violence continues to present a major health problem. In light of this, forensic nursing, without fail, is a valuable medicolegal interagency alliance and is opening doors of endless opportunities for nurses to assist in breaking that cycle of violence. Clinical forensic nursing recognizes the importance of respect and justice that is due to not only the living and deceased victims, but the families and perpetrators as well. As a forensic nurse I am the advocate for our clients’ connection between the health care and criminal justice systems.   

As a nurse, I know the importance of nursing documentation, but until my appreciative role as a forensic trauma nurse, evidence was not addressed. My experience working at the medical examiner office has reinforced and emphasized the magnitude of consequence in evidence collection, documentation and preservation as a continual process. This process begins at the scene, is carried through the clients’ health care course and into the death investigation. The continuity of patient care following trauma patients through their ICU stay, and subsequently through their death investigation, is an enlightenment into injury causation one can not fully appreciate in the fast paced moment of time focus we practice in the ICU.   

While I continue my forensic nursing education and advancement as a clinical forensic nurse specialist, my goal is to intensify evidence collection in the health care setting and to extend my education and understanding of injury causation.    

Two and a half years ago after attending the death investigation course, I felt like a child in a candy store dancing on tiptoes overwhelmed with excitement. Today, I still feel this way when studying or talking about forensic nursing.

Copyright © 1999 Young Forensic Scientists Forum / American Academy of Forensic Sciences