Forensic nursing in the emergency department: the distance between nurses' performed role behaviors and their perception of behaviors' importance.

BACKGROUND: Emergency department nurses often deal with victims of violence and trauma. In the emergency department, the main focus is on saving lives and stabilizing patients' conditions. The next important task is to preserve any valuable evidence that could potentially help identify a crime. It is important to describe how nurses currently practice in the emergency department and perceive their role in caring for forensic patients. This study aimed to investigate the frequency of performance and perception of the importance of forensic nursing role behaviors among emergency department nurses as well as the correlation between mean scores of performance and perception. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional correlational descriptive study. This non-observational survey study used a questionnaire to investigate the frequency of performance and perception of the importance of forensic nursing role behaviors among 274 emergency department nurses. RESULTS: The total mean scores for frequency of performed behaviors and their perceived importance were 2.36±0.65 and 4.23±0.64 respectively. The overall mean scores of importance were significantly higher than frequency. There was a significant correlation between the frequency of performance and perception of the importance of twenty-eight items (twenty-four positive correlations and 4 negative correlations) (p<0.05). The frequency of performed behaviors positively correlated with participants' type of shift worked and their personal experiences of legal and judicial claims. The female gender of respondents positively correlated with behaviors' perceived importance. CONCLUSION: The study revealed a significant discrepancy between the frequency of forensic nursing role behaviors performed and their perceived importance in the emergency department. This gap emphasizes the pressing requirement for forensic nursing subjects to be incorporated into graduate and undergraduate nursing curricula, as well as ongoing training programs and courses. It is crucial to establish and implement forensic nursing protocols for the care of trauma victims, and to foster collaboration between healthcare systems, law enforcement, and forensic investigators to streamline the process.

Forensic Nurse Hospitalist: The Comprehensive Role of the Forensic Nurse in a Hospital Setting.

Forensic nursing is an evolving specialty designed to address the unique, intersecting health and legal needs of patients who are victims, suspects, and perpetrators of trauma. The "Forensic Nurse Hospitalist" is proposed as a new term to describe the role of the nurse who is qualified by licensure and education as a specialist in forensic nursing and practices specifically in the hospital setting. The forensic nurse hospitalist can provide comprehensive, medicolegal care to patients receiving treatment for trauma-related injury and questionable death in the acute care setting. The purpose of this paper is to highlight the need and importance of the forensic nurse hospitalist and describe the multifaceted responsibilities of the role as a transformational leader in health care today. It is vital that health care systems employ forensic nurse hospitalists to deliver expert patient care, offer specialized consultation and collaboration, and implement systemwide policy and educational initiatives to best meet the needs of patients who have experienced intentional or unintentional trauma.

Evolution of Forensic Nursing Theory--Introduction of the Constructed Theory of Forensic Nursing Care: A Middle-Range Theory.

The constructed theory of forensic nursing care is a middle-range nursing theory developed from the integrated practice model for forensic nursing science, a conceptual framework. Theory evolution was achieved following a critique of the conceptual framework and through inductive and deductive reasoning. A review of nursing theory growth and significance of middle-range theories is presented as background information in understanding the importance of this emerging forensic nursing middle-range theory. The philosophical and theoretical foundations of forensic nursing are bolstered with the addition of three nursing theories, two healthcare models and one social theory. Links are made between theory components and the current state of forensic nursing. Assumptions and concepts are clearly defined. The middle-range theory provides three testable propositions to frame forensic nursing practice, education, and research. Research conducted on the propositions will expand the forensic nursing scientific base leading to enhanced evidence-based practice. A pictorial model illustrates the propositions as relational statements. The constructed theory of forensic nursing care affirms the focus of forensic nursing care is on the nurse-patient relationship and improved health outcomes. Additional results of forensic nursing care are improved forensic science and criminal justice system outcomes.