Unit.C.8.1.
Forensic Nursing Education
Australia |
focus
points
|
 |
"Studies
have confirmed the need for special knowledge and skills
for these nurses, who face the challenge of working with
patients with extreme behavior problems" (Dhondea,
1995, p. 77).
"The existing
literature does indicate that nurses require special skills
to enable them to work effectively in a forensic setting"
(Dhondea, 1995, p. 77).
"This need
for education is strengthened by the changing pattern of
mental health care in Australia as health departments attempt
to manage all forensic patients within the hospital system"
(Dhondea, 1995, p. 77).
Canada |
focus
points
|
|
As there are
so many levels of educational programs here are some definitions
as to clarify the differences:
Graduate
degree program: "master's degree in a specialized
area of study; relating to studies beyond a bachelor's degree;
graduate courses" (Webster Dictionary, 1996).
Baccalaureate
degree program: "the degree of bachelor, conferred
upon graduates of most colleges and universities; an undergraduate
degree level of education for credits" (Webster Dictionary,
1996).
Diploma program:
"a document issued by a university or other school
testifying that a student has earned a degree or completed
a particular course of study; a certificate conferring a
privilege or honor; an official document or charter"
(Webster Dictionary, 1996).
Certificate
program: "series of courses in a selected specialty
of professional practice (for example: forensic health studies,
advanced studies in mental health, emergency, critical care,
neonatal, gerontology); upon completion, the student has
a certificate in a specific area of practice; certification
is required in some areas of practice to obtain employment"
(Webster Dictionary, 1996).
Certification:
"the act of certifying; the state of being certified;
a certified statement" (Webster, 1996).
Examination verification process that a professional has
a sufficient amount of current knowledge in a selected specialty
area; the professional organization in the field of study
determine the criteria and the length of time the certification
is valid for. Separate and different from a formal academic
diploma and degree; neither of which guarantee obtaining
employment in the area of practice.
Program:
"to include or schedule in a program; to design or
schedule programs; to prepare an instructional sequence
in programmed instruction; to instruct by such a sequence;
computer science; to provide (a computer) with a set of
instructions for solving a problem" (Webster Dictionary,
1996).
Workshop:
"a group of people who meet regularly for a seminar
in a specialized field for example a creative-writing workshop"
(Webster Dictionary, 1996).
Seminar:
"a course of study so pursued; a scheduled meeting
of such a group; a meeting for an exchange of ideas in an
area; conference. A presentation of study of a certain amount
of hours in duration" (Webster Dictionary, 1996).
Nursing Informatics:
"the specialty that integrates nursing science, computer
science, and information science in identifying, collecting,
processing, and managing data and information to support
nursing practice, administration, education, research, and
the expansion of nursing knowledge" (ANA Scope of Practice
for Nursing Informatics, 1997).
'MRC Forensic
Education Research Online-Study 2A. This study of the pilot
forensic internet course was to determine what technical
and content design characteristics affect student learning
outcomes when instructional technologies are utilized on-line
in the delivery of distance education in forensic nursing"
(Harvey, 1998).
"This exploratory
study was created to collect data from students related
to the use of instructional technology interventions and
other course design innovations in the on-line delivery
of Forensic Nursing. The purpose of the study was to determine
what technical and content design characteristics affect
student learning outcomes when instructional technologies
are utilized on-line in the delivery of distance education
in forensic nursing. The finding of the study below were
compiled by Sheila Harvey" (Harvey, 1998).
Highlights
of the MRC Forensic Education Research Online were as follows:
"The forensic study sought to answer the following
questions: Q. In what ways do technical and content design
characteristics affect student learning outcomes when instructional
technologies are utilized on-line in the delivery of distance
education? Q. What effects can technology have on student
self-concept and attitudes about learning? Q. What effect
can technology have on interactions between the student
and instructor and among students? (Harvey, 1998).
Executive
Summary
"Most participants
in the distance-delivered courses surveyed chose to participate
in the courses because of their interest in the subject
matter. Over half of the participants chose the course because
of the way it was delivered. Personal enrichment and reasons
related to career opportunities or enhancing current career
status were most often cited as reasons for taking a college
course at this time" (Harvey, 1998).
"For many
students, threaded discussion groups, listservs and chat
resources were new. Significant increases in ability ratings
were reported by students by the end of the course. The
listservs provided opportunities for interesting discussions
which broadened the scope of the knowledge offered. Students
also appreciated the humour involved in these exchanges"
(Harvey, 1998).
"The benefits
of taking an on-line course were numerous: Students valued
time and place flexibility, access to course topics that
they could not otherwise access, and interaction with both
the instructor, students, and special guests globally. The
course delivery and development of new technical knowledge
were also valued by students. Lastly, students valued the
relevance, organization and manner of the instructor and
instruction resources" (Harvey, 1998).
"Students
also provided commentary on how their experience would be
different without on-line course delivery. The immediacy
of communication, access to on-line resources, and an ability
to take the course despite geographic location, prior family
and professional commitments were seen as instances which
would have been compromised or absent in a traditional modality
delivery" (Harvey, 1998).
"In the
Phillips (1983) educational survey of 147 forensic nurses
in Canada, 61% felt that forensic nurses should have a special
certificate beyond initial registration" (Phillips,
1983; cited in Dhondea, 1995, p. 78).
"In the
Phillips (1983) educational survey of 147 forensic nurses
in Canada, 80% agreed with the need for post-graduate courses
for all mental health disciplines pertaining to the treatment
of forensic psychiatric patients" (Phillips, 1983,
p. 41).
International |
focus
points
|
|
Insert forensic
focus points here
United Kingdom |
focus
points
|
|
Insert forensic
focus points here
United States |
focus
points
|
|
"Nursing
is the backbone of correctional health within the institutions,
and provides the major component of health services. Yet
correctional nursing has gotten limited, if any professional
recognition or formalized education as a clinical specialty"
(Goldkuhle, 1999, p. 38).
"With few
exceptions neither medical or nursing schools have made
a solid commitment to curricular adjustments in the study
and research of crime and health" (Goldkuhle, 1999,
p. 38).
"Advanced,
professional education is the key to shift the correctional
health nursing role from isolated practice behind bars to
a seamless, community based, managed care approach"
(Goldkuhle, 1999, p. 38).
"From a
public health perspective, the state of health or illness
of the correctional population reflects the state of health
or illness of the community of which they are part of. The
aim of correctional health is to close the health-trauma
cycle and to restore the inmate health to a state and a
process of being, and the inmate to an integrated and whole
person within the community" (Goldkuhle, 1999, p. 44).
"The forensic
autopsy allows students to directly obverse a variety of
pathologies and their sequelae and, which exploring the
multiplicity of factors that contributes to a person's death.
In addition students enhance their physical assessment skills
and learn forensic content that can be applied to nursing
practice" (Winfrey, 1998, p. 189).
"Advanced
practice nurses (APN's) must acquire a depth of knowledge
sufficient for furthering leadership and innovation in practice,
research and education. Pathophysiology deals with the study
of deviation from the norm of why diseases, disorders and
symptomatology occur. Central to such a study is description
of cells and tissues as a means of explaining pathophysiology"
(Winfrey, 1998, p. 189).
"Courses
in advanced pathophysiology usually include the use of slides
overheard and texts depicting pathophyisology from a two-dimensional
perspective, but these are poor substitutes for actual tissue,
organs and systems" (Winfrey, 1998, p. 189).
"Forensics
is an emerging specialty area of nursing. The study and
practice of forensics has a long and accepted history in
medicine and psychiatry. Nurses always have cared for patients
who were victims of violence in emergency rooms, critical
care settings and the community. Only recently has nursing
recognized forensic science as a valid area of study. Graduate
courses and degrees are offered in forensics and forensic
knowledge has been incorporated into undergraduate nursing
education" (Winfrey, 1996).
"Accordingly
forensic science can be considered another area of empirical
study of nursing" (Winfrey, 1999, p. 3). "The
forensically educated critically care nurse knows how to
collect evidence and initiate the justice system. These
actions occur because the critical care nurse has been educated
about pattern recognition. Conceptually these nurses view
the criminal justice system as part of the interdisciplinary
patient care team" (Winfrey, 1999, p. 2).
The primary strategy
to refine suspiciousness and intuition is to increase the
forensic knowledge base. This may be done in many ways,
both formal and informal, and classroom and clinical. Formal
educational opportunities include university courses at
the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as continuing
education classes. In some states, courses are available
such as Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs (Winfrey
& Smith, 1999).
Informal education occurs by reading books and journal articles
pertaining to forensic issues. Practical experience can
be gained by observation; for example, viewing a forensic
autopsy.22 Negative and upsetting clinical experiences can
be transformed into learning opportunities by critical incident
stress debriefing.23 Using case studies becomes telling
the critical care nurses' stories, which increases vicarious
clinical experience (Winfrey & Smith, 1999).
Knowledge promotes pattern recognition, but clinical experience
must be cultivated for its learning opportunities. Most
nurses who are practicing currently received their basic
nursing education through being exposed solely to the usual
ways of teaching nursing, which encouraged only analytical
reasoning (Winfrey & Smith, 1999).
Focus Points
Reference
American Nurses
Association. (1997). ANA Scope of Practice for Nursing Informatics
(Publication
# ). Washington, DC.: Author.
Dhondea, R. (1995).
An ethnographic study of nurses in a forensic psychiatric
setting: Education
and training implications. Australia and New Zealand
Journal of Mental Health Nursing, 4, 77-82.
Goldkuhle, U. (1999). Professional education for correctional
nurses: A community based
partnership model. Journal of Psychosocial Nursing, 37
(9), 38-44.
Harvey, P. (1998).
MRC Forensic Education Research Online-Study 2A. Mount
Royal College.
Retrieved June 23, 2002 from MRC Website: http://www.mtroyal.ab.ca/olt/
Kent-Wilkinson,
A., Mckeown, M., Mercer, D., McCann, G. & Mason, T.
(1999). Practitioner
Training, Future Directions, and Challenges for Practice.
pp. 351-358. In Mercer, D., Mason, T., Mckeown, M. &
McCann, G. [Eds] (1999). Forensic mental health care:
A case study approach. Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh.
ISBN 0-443-06140-8
Phillips, M.J.(1983). Forensic psychiatry: Nurses' attitudes
revealed. Dimensions in Health
Service, 60 (9), 41-43.
Standing Bear,
Z.G. (1995). Forensic nursing and death investigation: With
the vision be co-
opted? Journal of Psychosocial Nursing and Mental Health
Services, 33 (9), 59-64.
Webster Dictionary
(1996). Merrium-Webster Dictionary Online. Retrieved
from http://www.m-w.com/
Winfrey, M. (1998).
Using forensic autopsies to teach advanced pathophysiology.
Clinical Nurse
Specialist, 12 (5), 192-197
Winfrey, M. E.
& Smith, A. R. (1999). The suspiciousness factor: Critical
care nursing and
forensics. Critical Care Nursing Quarterly, 22 (1),
1-7.
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C - Forensic Nursing > Section C.8.0. Forensic Future > Unit.C.8.1.
Forensic Nursing Education
