Forensic Nurse
Kaylee Helmick
Job Description
A Forensic Nurse is a type of job that cares for victims, criminals, and for the victims or criminals family. Nurses will usually investigate a case of abuse, people who have been sexually assaulted, mentally ill, or someone who has been deceased. A forensic nurse normal day would be measuring wounds, taking photos of the deceased person, and taking samples of blood and tissue. Forensic Nursing is all about having care for people and helping them and their families go through rough patches in their life.
Training/Education Requirements
- Must go to a 4 year college/university
- Must obtain RN training
- Enroll in continuing education programs and training workshops
- Have a degree in nursing and pass a national license examination
- required to have a registered Nurse license
- You must renew your license every few years
Working Conditions
People will most likely be seeing Forensic Nurses in hospitals working in emergency rooms, or once in a great while working at the crime scene. They are always on there feet going from place to place caring for their patients. Forensic Nurses are on an on-call schedule, they have to be in the hospital within 30 minutes of a phone call. Forensic Nurses work with Law enforcements, other nurses, doctors, and the victims or criminals of the crime. They are always communicating with someone. Being a Forensic Nurse comes with having a stressful and chaotic days. At the end of the day Nurses tend to be emotionally and mentally drained.
Personal Characteristics
- Fast-paced
- Structured
- Patient
- Research- oriented
- Compassionate
- Good Communication
- Observational
Earnings and Job Lookouts
Forensic Nurses make $40,000-$83,000 a year depending on where you live and what your background education is. Due to Forensic Nurses being on an on-call schedule the hours are not flexible and is very hard to find vocation time. It would be better for the nurses to move to a bigger city where there are more crimes committed and more job opportunities due to Forensic Nursing being a job since the 1990s, so theres not a lot of job opportunities in general. Its hard to find and to get into a Forensic Nursing job, but it is possible.
Education Spotlight
- Boston University- Located in Boston, Mass. http://www.bc.edu/schools/son/programs/masters/specialties/forensicnursing.html
- University of Illinois at Chicago- Located in Chicago, Illinois, http://www.uic.edu/nursing/forensics_1/Fliers/Forensics%20Brochure%202011.pdf
- John Hopkins University- Located in Baltimore, Maryland. http://nursing.jhu.edu/news-events/news/archives/2010/forensic_program.html
- University of Pennsylvania- Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. http://www.nursing.upenn.edu/courses/course_detail.asp?cid=NURS534
What Is Forensic Nursing?