Forensic nursing is a novel area of practice that is highly specialized and focuses on the treatment of illnesses and the care of victims of trauma, violence, and abuse, including all the health-related components of this specialty practice. In the Indian context, this domain is emerging as the critical link between health care and law enforcement agencies. This blog analyses the scope and status of forensic nursing in India, barriers and prospects, as well as what it might become in the future.
What is forensic nursing?
Forensic nursing is defined as the practice of nursing that focuses on a victim’s health care and legal assistance. The work of the forensic nurse encompasses taking care of the patients, performing forensic examinations, gathering evidence and injury documentation, and interacting with law enforcement officials. Their work is both critical to taking care of patients and, at the same time, very sensitive in ensuring that no important legal evidence is lost.
Role of Forensic Nurses,
Forensic nurses play very crucial roles within both the medical and legal fields. Their roles include,
Medical Exam and Documentation: Forensic nurses examine the patient, particularly the assault or trauma victim, in full detail. They note the nature of the injuries, which can be photographs and written accounts, used both for treatment as well as criminal cases.
Collection of Evidence: Forensic nurses collect swabs, blood, and clothing samples, which can be used as evidence for the criminals. Proper collection ensures that there is no contamination of evidence and should be robust in court.
• Testifying in Court: Forensic nurses offer expert testimony regarding any criminal legal case. Their professional medical background can help judges or juries understand injuries as well as possible causations.
• Provision of Psychological Support: Forensic nurses also play a very important role for the victims. They offer emotional support to the clients. It is through their compassionate care that patients recover from the trauma as if it had marred their lives.
Opportunities for Indian forensic nurses
As the field of forensic nursing is developing, ample opportunities are coming up in India in the following categories:
• Hospitals and Trauma Centres: Here, at times, an emergency department employs forensic nurses to deal with violent, accidental injuries, or trauma cases. The main job would be the clinical care of patients while also protecting the forensic evidence.
• Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANE): A Specialist Role of Forensic Nursing. SANEs offer nursing care to sexual assault victims, collect evidence, and provide testimony in court. With increased cases of sexual offenses, there is a growing need for SANEs in urban hospitals.
• Forensic Nurses Collaboration with Police: Forensic nurses collaborate with police in the care of victims of crime and the collection of evidence in family violence, child maltreatment, and murder.
• Legal consultation: Some of these types of nurses are permitted to give expert consultation services to be used in the court to explain specific medical issues and the nature of the condition of injury, or trauma. They also tend to be used, quite often, as expert witnesses in the courts.
• Education and Research: As this specialty continues to grow and develop, experts will be able to teach new nurses entering this type of specialty and conduct studies expanding this domain.
This, despite the increasing importance that forensic nursing is gaining, is facing excellent challenges in India:
• No Systematic Education: Not many nursing schools around India provide specialized programs for forensic nursing. Nurses in this line are mostly trained on short-term courses that may not adequately prepare them for the multifaceted needs of forensic nursing.
• Low Visibility: Health providers and attorneys lack knowledge of what is possible to achieve with forensic nurses in crime investigations. Low visibility translates to fewer job opportunities and limits the use of forensic nursing in hospitals and law enforcement agencies.
• Emotional Stress: Forensic nurses are more prone to experiencing some traumatic events in their line of work. These traumatic events may include sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, and other stress-related activities that could affect their mental health.
Future of Forensic Nursing in India
As forensic nursing grows in awareness, the future of the specialty looks bright in India. Growing violent crimes and increasing abuse cases necessitate a need for good forensic nurses. The government has taken several initiatives to support such violence victims, one of which is One Stop Centers for women in distress, an opportunity to actively take part in by the forensic nurses.
There are efforts to include forensic nursing in the curriculum of different nursing education programs. There will be nursing institutions that begin offering forensic nursing as an elective course to professionals, thereby building a good workforce capable of covering the demand for forensic services.
Forensic nursing has a wide scope of potential and can significantly contribute to the healthcare and legal systems of India, provided proper support and awareness are given.
Conclusion
Forensic nursing is one of the important specialties that is emerging in India, concerning the gap between health care and the legal system. Forensic nurses work with victims of violence and abuse while recovering themselves by collecting forensic evidence in the process. Challenges do remain in limited education and awareness, but this field has a lot of growth ahead of it. For the Indian nursing students, forensic nursing presents an area where they can be of use both to the patient and the legal process; thus, through a niche area, their occupation will not only be fulfilling but also influential.