Undercover nurse

[BlueBoxSearcher]

I have never seen anything that indicated forensic nurses were sent out into the field.Where do they actually work?Are they sometimes sent into the field to oversee a crime scene and collect evidence?I dont know if this is stupid to ask,but I will ask it anyway.Thank you.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I doubt that a nurse would work at a crime scene collecting evidence. The nurse would be responsible for collecting evidence from the patient who has presented as a victim of a crime, whether it's sexual assault, domestic assault, etc. Injuries are evaluated and documented, any physical evidence collected (like a rape kit), and anything else involved with patient care. Remember, these are nurses who have additional training and education.

What is Forensic Nursing? - International Association of Forensic Nurses

[BlueBoxSearcher]

Thank you.I now understand the real meaning of forensic nursing.They are still pronounced as nurses and deal with evidence of the body then that of a crime scene,but the job is equally as important.This clears up my question a little bit.Thank you.

[kappadiamond9]

Through my research of reading, I have read in some cases they are sent to crime scenes, they job description may require them to take pictures and work along side a coroner or medical examiner.

Nurse Death Investigator

It takes a certain type of nurse to be able to deal with death and dying all day, every day. Stacey Mitchell, DNP, RN, Deputy Chief Forensic Nurse Investigator in the Harris County, Texas Medical Examiner's Office has been doing just that for nearly 6 years. "We see a lot of things that are sad and disturbing, the worst of what people can do to other people," says Dr. Mitchell.

Nurses who conduct medicolegal death investigation are known by different titles, such as death investigator, forensic nurse investigator, deputy coroner, or even coroner. Nurse death investigators (NDIs) have the authority to confirm or pronounce death, establish decedent identification, and notify next of kin.[6] Their skills enable them to perform the critical components of death investigation -- ascertaining medical and social history of the decedent, examining the body, and investigating the scene -- all with the compassion characteristic of the nursing profession. The NDI's findings assist the medical examiner or coroner to determine the cause and manner of death.

Nurse death investigators from the Harris County Medical Examiner's Office receive more than 15,000 death reports annually. On call 24 hours a day, during 2007 the office's 9 nurses responded to the scenes of more than 2000 unnatural or unexpected deaths to determine what type of investigation was indicated. At each scene, the nurse death investigator takes photographs, examines the body, and interviews family members in order to establish a preliminary manner of death.

I pulled this from Latest Medical News, Clinical Trials, Guidelines – Today on Medscape you can go to this to pull it: Medscape: Medscape Access

[Roy Hanson]

and shrinks & the media wonders why some nursing have shell shock! aka: PtSD. Dealing with death every day requires, a thick skin. Some can handle it!