The International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) and the American Nurses Association (ANA) and have released Forensic Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice, a comprehensive reference guide that identifies and defines the expectations for the role and practice of the forensic nurse. Forensic nursing focuses not only on providing patient care, but its practitioners also collect evidence, counsel patients and communicate with professionals in legal systems.
Developed by a panel of nurse experts convened by the ANA and the IAFN, the guide outlines six standards for forensic nursing practice and nine standards for professional performance. In addition, the guide articulates the essentials of this specialty, its accountabilities and activities – the who, what, when, where and how of its practice – both for specialists and generalists and those who work with them. Forensic nurses are among the most diverse groups of clinicians in the nursing profession with respect to patient populations served, practice settings, and forensic and healthcare services provided. Yet all forensic nurses apply a unique combination of processes rooted in nursing science, forensic science, and public health to care for patients.
In addition to recommended standards of professional performance, the book’s summary discussion of the scope of forensic nursing practice -- including characteristics, trends, education, practice environments, and its ethical and conceptual bases -- lends an informative and broad context for the reader’s understanding and use of these standards.
While Forensic Nursing: Scope and Standards of Practice is a reference primarily for practicing nurses and nursing faculty and students, it is also an essential document for other specialists in forensic care, such as healthcare providers, researchers, scholars, and those involved in funding, legal, policy, and regulatory activities.
