6 Specialties to Consider For a Career in Forensic Nursing

With improved life quality, people are experiencing a drastic increase in depression and related issues. It has deteriorated the mental health of people all over the world. According to various data on human psychological behavior, people with mental disorders are more prone to commit a crime or victim to crime than normal people. Thus, contributing significantly to an exponential increase in criminal incidents. That’s why forensic science has started to gain substantial ground in recent years. This discipline involves the scientific investigation of criminal activities or incidents such as child abuse, rape cases, and violence leading to death.

It is often seen that people prefer to pursue careers that have a broad scope. It helps them practice their skills in several capacities. Due to the growing demand and vast scope of forensic science, it is wise to choose forensic nursing as a career path. It offers many employment opportunities that can be further enhanced by looking into forensic nursing sub-specialties. The primary task of forensic nurses is to improve the healthcare sector, particularly relating to the judicial system. Generally, it involves crime scene examination, death investigations, mental support to assaulted victims, health care provision, prevention of future assaults through educational programs, and consultation with legal authorities. These duties are assigned to the forensic nurse as per their sub-specialty in forensic nursing. In addition to technical skills, students interested in pursuing a career in this specialty should have outstanding communication and management skills.

After briefly introducing forensic nursing, one must be thinking about ‘WHAT range does the average forensic nurse salary falls into?’ Well, this question is worth pondering. A fresher can expect to earn $77,386/annum. At the same time, for experienced professionals, it goes up to $129,500/annum, which is not a bad figure. Therefore, students who want to build a career in forensic nursing can take up this profession to prospect a successful tomorrow. As far as sub-specialties within forensic nursing are concerned, they are numerous to choose from, discussed below.

1. Correctional Nursing Specialists

The students who want to join this specialty must know the area of performance covered by correctional nurse specialties. It is related to the treatment of detainees in jails, prisons, and detention centers. It is, as the name implies, concerned with the correct approach towards such individuals. Physical examinations, medication management, and provision of relevant supplies are all part of the core function of correctional nursing specialists and the alleged suspect’s assessment. It is done by daily visits of nursing professionals to detention centers. This branch of forensic nursing aids in the health of criminals and aids in the smooth execution of the legal process based on justice, as close monitoring of any criminal, may aid in understanding his specific conduct. It could assist the investigation team in finding any clues.

2. Forensic Clinical Nurse Specialists

To pursue this career path, one must have a master’s or doctoral degree. Clinical nurse specialists are highly competent and trained to provide patients with basic treatment, diagnosis, and assessments. So, we may say that their primary position is that of an educator, clinical expert, consultant, and researcher. Furthermore, their role extends to health care management, women’s health, geriatrics, pediatrics, critical care, cancer, and so forth fall under their scope of practice. So, it’s obvious to have a diverse set of areas to work in. Thus, making it a good market for job-seeking individuals.

3. Forensic Gerontology Specialists

It entails handling cases involving human rights breaches against senior citizens. Students interested in caring for older people who have got neglected or mistreated will always be welcome in this profession. Forensic Gerontology Specialists are supposed to assist doctors with medical procedures, administer medications. They promote self-care skills in hospitals or old homes where they are assigned to work. One thing to keep in mind is that students diverted to this area must be patient and vigilant.

In the future, this specialization is anticipated to become increasingly in demand. According to statistics, the elderly population (aged 65 and over) made up 9% of the population in 2019. This percentage is expected to rise to 16% by 2050. It’s a sizable proportion of the world’s elderly population. Professionals in this specialty are in high demand now, with a wide range of opportunities and good pay.

4. Forensic Nurse Investigators

As the name implies, it involves some investigation, but ‘What might be the mode of investigation?’ is a good question to ask. Together with the death investigator, this discipline conducts investigations close to high-level criminal activity. The primary goal of forensic nurse investigators is to unveil the events and exact reasons that led to a sudden or violent death. To do so, they’ll need to gather evidence from the crime spot, examine the body, and aid with medical procedures like autopsies. Therefore, it covers substantial grounds in forensic medicine. This specialty is recommended for strong-willed and courageous people because it deals with either suspicious, unexpected, or violent behavior that leads to murder. 

5. Forensic Psychiatric Nurses

It is a must-consider domain for students who have a good grasp on the subject of motivation or evaluation because they can help pull someone out of a mentally unstable state. Forensic psychiatric nurses (FPN) deal with both criminals and victims of crime. They are in charge of evaluating a person based on court orders. Children, women, and professionals from other fields may be their patients, whether offenders or victims. Hospitals, mental health facilities, and detention centers are popular job placements for these nurses.

Due to the number of events that cause mental health problems increases exponentially worldwide, this profession is becoming highly demanding. Sexual assault on both women and children, individual exploitation, family disintegration, war atrocities, and so on are instances of such events. As a forensic psychiatric nurse, you should comfort the affected ones by the events in question and help them return to their regular lives. Consequently, choosing this path helps advance in a career and demonstrates a positive attitude toward humanity.

6. Nurse Coroners or Death Investigators

Well, nurse coroners are very similar to forensic nurse investigators. They deal with investigations that are directly related to crime scenes. Homicide, rape, and suspicious deaths or murders are examples of common crimes. Nurse coroners analyze the circumstances and predict the time of death by closely inspecting the body, which is why they are required to arrive at the crime scene in the first place. In addition, they must be skilled at reading fingerprints and bloodstain patterns while collaborating with medical examiners. Apart from technical skills, they must be courageous to execute their responsibilities efficiently. They are most likely to find work in hospitals or medical facilities.

Conclusion

This profession, in my opinion, is just as good as the ‘live and let live concept because it allows people to make a career while imparting their services to humanity. In addition, law enforcement agencies rely on the proofs and reports generated by forensic nurses to carry out legal proceedings. As a result, it plays a vital role in bringing about constructive change in society in all of its forms.

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