Crime victims enter the US health care system every day through emergency rooms, clinics and hospitals across the country. Many medical institutions that receive emergency patients consider any admission to be a forensic care unless otherwise proven. Although collecting evidence in these situations is important, it never goes beyond the need to maintain patient safety and provide quality patient care.

Forensic care is a nursing role in which evidence of potential crimes is collected from patients. This can happen for potential offenders and victims. The forensic care process involves detailed physical evidence collection, historical records, and strict maintenance of the chain of custody.

The evidence collected by the nursing team is very helpful for criminal investigations. Potential evidence such as brave patterns or stray hair can help law enforcement officials identify weapons or potential suspects. Since the evidence collected by the care team can be used in court, the way in which it is collected, the nurses who collect it, the way in which the evidence is stored, and the evidence itself can also be challenged in court. Therefore, forensic nurses must be trained and familiar with the detailed evidence rules and regulations in their respective states.

One thing to keep in mind is that health care providers are often the first people to interact with crime victims. Therefore, the forensic care team must receive training on how to conduct a history of behavior and interact with victims of crime. This can be particularly difficult when interacting with children, the elderly or patients with special needs, who are victims of crime. Certain criminal acts may require unique procedures. In many hospitals, specific care teams trained in evidence of sexual assault can handle all specific sexual assault cases. Several states respect SANE design – sexual assault nurse inspectors. This is a care design that requires additional training on sensitive evidence collection issues related to sexual assault.

Health care providers should develop a predetermined evidence collection policy and forensic care kit before the forensic patient arrives. The evidence collection toolkit should be pre-approved by the state law enforcement agencies and the internal legal department of the facility. The special kits available now cost less than $20 for easy purchase. Each state's Attorney General's Office should be able to provide a detailed list of items that should be included in the prepared toolkit.

Recently, several nursing committees have recognized the need for additional training and have therefore begun to require nurses to participate in a 2.0-hour contact nursing education course for forensic care and evidence collection. The recent major hospitals are particularly in need of this knowledge in more than 200 miles of rural areas. Therefore, each facility receiving emergency patients must be competent to carry out the forensic evidence collection process. Forensic care knowledge can indeed make nurses a patience advocate and get them back from traumatic events.

The important role of forensic care was originally published on Spring