Forensic nursing: An emerging competency for contemporary practice1

Forensic nursing is an emerging specialty field of practice for nurses. Nurses have been challenged to share responsibility with the legal system to augment the resources available to patients with liability-related injuries, crime victims, and perpetrators or suspects in police custody. These challenges have prompted collaboration between faculty from nursing and law enforcement technology criminal justice to develop an introductory forensic nursing course utilizing an interdisciplinary teaching approach. Health care and the law often become enmeshed during the critical moments when patient care supersedes the concern for social justice. This interdisciplinary course was designed to increase awareness and practical application of principles of forensic science in the professional nurse. This article describes an interdisciplinary collaboration focusing on student and faculty perceptions of utilizing an interdisciplinary approach for teaching introductory forensic nursing principles.