How do I become a forensic nurse? What qualifications do I need?

• Forensic nursing is a specialty area (like emergency nursing, geriatric nursing, etc)
• You need to become a registered nurse first and then focus your practice in forensic nursing.
• As yet, other than sexual assault nursing, you are not required to have extra qualifications in order to become a forensic nurse.
• Nurses who work in some forensic areas, have called themselves forensic nurses for years
• Forensic educational courses are just beginning to be developed around the world, due to increased media attention and increased awareness and interest in many forensic areas of practice.
• Forensic courses offered have usually focused on either the forensic sciences or on the forensic behavioural sciences, in doing so the populations at risk have either been victims or offenders, or the deceased. The broad overview of all areas of forensic practice from the perspective of the multidisciplinary team provides a greater awareness of the interface of health care and the law, and the victim/perpetrator relationship.
• Forensic courses have helped nurses gain entrance to this area - but so far are not required
• Entrance into any forensic areas depends on availability of positions in the forensic specialty of interest, in your geographic area.

Forensic course(s) need to provide a broad overview of all subspecialties of forensic practice and the necessary career pathways.

Forensic Nursing Patient Population:
Forensic nurses generally work with patients who are:

• offenders (mentally ill, addicted, aging, female, sex, & young offenders)
• victims (sexual assault, crime, catastrophic accidents, trauma, domestic violence victims)
• deceased (unnatural, unexplained, or suspicious deaths)
• families of both (victims/perpetrators, living/deceased, and families of both)

Forensic Nursing and Subspecialties:

• Forensic correctional nursing
• Forensic ER nursing (living, clinical)
• Forensic geriatric nursing
• Forensic legal nurse consulting
• Forensic nurse educators
• Forensic nurse examiners (sexual assault nurse examiners)
• Forensic nurse investigators (death investigators)
• Forensic pediatric nurses
• Forensic psychiatric nursing

See definitions at www.forensiceducation.com/specialties
or www.forensiceducation.com/glossary

Forensic Work sites

Forensic psychiatric nursing
forensic psychiatric services, provincial or state hospitals, special hospitals

Forensic correctional nursing
prisons/ jails, remand, correctional and young offender centres

Forensic clinical nursing (living forensic)
emergency departments, domestic violence clinics and shelters

Forensic nurse examiners (sexual assault nurse examiners)
SANE/SART clinics, emergency departments

Forensic nurse investigators (death investigators)
medical examiner offices/ coroner offices

Forensic legal nurse consulting
independent practice, legal or insurance firms

Forensic geriatric nursing
Independent practice, nursing homes

Forensic pediatric nurses
independent practice, children's hospitals

Do you require an RN and then take MRC's certificate program?

• Yes you require an RN first - or can take U of C courses as a senior open option
• U of C forensic courses are multidisciplinary, open to all disciplines
• Can either take Forensic classroom or Internet course at U of C as a senior open option during undergraduate degree or post RN program
• May want to focus on forensic nursing in a clinical placement during undergraduate program and/or could take as an option course the forensic classroom or Internet course which provides the theory but not a clinical placement
• MRC offers a certificate of achievement program for disciplines who already have a two year or degree or enrolled in a program of nursing, justice, criminal justice, police, psychology, social work etc
• MRC Certificate is is 4- 5 courses - each course is also 3 credit which may be requested to be transferable to degree program
• Taking all courses would give you a certificate of achievement or could take U of C course after RN or degree or during undergraduate studies
• MRC forensic courses do not provide with them a clinical placement component either as all designed for Internet or distance delivery

Do you need a BN?

• No do not need a BN to take any forensic nursing course unless they are graduate masters level

Do you know of other courses of programs in forensic nursing?

The courses and programs I am aware of I have listed on my website under http://www.forensiceducation.com/forensic_files/edu_internationally.htm

Why nurses are interested in Forensic Nursing now?

Nurses looking for a change and who find forensic practice areas of interest to them.

Radical changes have occurred in education and technology, at a time that has also come for a global trend and interest in the emerging specialty of the forensic behavioural sciences. Events in the media, in particular, have contributed to the public awareness of the applied sciences used to help solve crimes, determine psychiatric assessment of those accused, and to educate professionals in the identification and prevention of violence, trauma and catastrophic injuries (Kent-Wilkinson, 2000).

Academic programs are only beginning to be developed internationally to provide specific courses of study in forensic health care and the necessary path toward entrance into the forensic practice arena. Internet distance delivery provides access to information for an area of practice that historically has been somewhat insular. Internet technology has implicitly gone beyond the issues of distance to honor the interactive, communal character of learning and the emerging capabilities of the Net (Kent-Wilkinson, 2000).

The University of Calgary [3 credit - senior open option - undergraduate]
Faculty of Nursing & Faculty of Continuing Education
2500 University Drive N.W.
Calgary, Alberta, Canada, T2N 1N4
U of C Forensic Course: http://www.forensiceducation.com/forensic_edu/flyer2002.htm
U of C Website: http://www.ucalgary.com/

Spring Session (Classroom) Nurs 503.08 (Lecture 20) 3 Credit
* Nursing and health care in forensic populations

Summer Session (Internet) Nurs 503.08 (Lecture 60) 3 Credit
* Focus on Forensic: Introduction to forensic populationsContact Laura Hampson - Student Advisor

Phone 220-2728 - Email: hampson@ucalgary.ca
Contact Arlene Kent-Wilkinson - Instructor
U of C Email: akent@ucalgary.ca

Mount Royal College [each course 3 credit - certificate of achievement program after RN or degree]
Community & Health Studies
Forensic Studies - Certificate of Achievement
4825 Richard Road S.W.
Calgary Alberta Canada T3E 6K6
MRC Forensic Studies: http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/forensic/
MRC Website: http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/

FORE 4401/1351 Forensic history, risk populations and concepts
FORE 4401/1362 Health care in forensic psychiatric and correctional populations

MRC Email: AKentWilkinson@mtroyal.ab.ca

Arlene Kent-Wilkinson RN BSN MN
Forensic Nurse Educator/Consultant
116 Martindale Close N.E.
Calgary Alberta Canada T3J 2V3
(H) Phone: (403) 293-1598
(H) Cell (403) 630-4087
(H) Fax: (403) 285-1760
(H) Email: Arlene.Kent@shaw.ca
(H) Website: http://www.forensiceducation.com