Interesting reading

February 8, 2010 by Admin

Review of Forensic Nursing, by Virginia A. Lynch.

I found it interesting in chapter 3 when they stated forensic pathology lays the foundation for all clinical medicine (why people die). Forensic psychiatrists, behavioral scientists, and criminologists who study and evaluate crimes and criminal behavior (why people commit crimes) lay the foundation for the prevention of crime. I found this interesting to think we could prevent crime. If we could truly get inside a criminal mind we could prevent crime. Could science take us that far? Maybe one day!

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The forensic nurses role

February 8, 2010 by Admin

 Review of Forensic Nursing, by Virginia A. Lynch.

The forensic nurse’s role according to our book includes such skills as the following: -identification of trauma (assessment) -investigation (planning) -documentation (history) pertaining to the incident (intervention) -collection of evidence (specimens) -postinvestigation review (evaluation). In other words not only will the forensic nurse interact with the patient as a regular nurse would, they will have to go beyond in all aspects of crisis. Their skills of assessing, planning, intervention and evaluation must be finely honed. They must be able to look passed the obvious.

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Graduate and Post-Graduate Education

February 8, 2010 by Admin

The education available today is astounding. Courses such as firearms analysis and blood spatter analysis just to name a few. All this to help mesh the medical and legal fields into a fine tuned piece of machinery. Less evidence to be lost and more to be preserved. More criminals put away and more victims stood up for. Standing up for our patients is that not what we became nurses for. A nurse who says he/she knows it all is truly not a nurse. A true nurse goes out everyday and learns for their patients and with their patients. It is an ever changing field. I entered this field with the knowledge that I could move forward and each day a new door opens.

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William Eckert the father of “living forensics”

February 8, 2010 by Admin

Forensics when it first began as we well know only cared about the dead. But as time grew we found out thanks to people like William Eckert, that the living have much to offer in the way of evidence. By studying the living both victims and criminals alike we can make headway into the criminal mind so that maybe we may prevent crime. The living have so much to offer.

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Sleep

February 2, 2010 by Admin

Review of Health Assessment for Nursing Practice by Susan F. Wilson and Jean Foret Giddens.

I liked the chapter on Sleep. It was a good review and update. I liked that is was short and direct. The interactive exercises were lacking in drug interventions. There are so many drugs for sleep ranging from Benadryl to, dare I say, Propofol! Although, I am familiar with the common drugs of Ambien, Lunesta, or Soma. I think I would be much better served to know the drug/drug/alcohol/OTC interactions are. Well, we hope our patients aren’t deviating from their prescribed course of treatment, but we should be highly aware of the risk for potential knowledge deficit and abuse. Somnolently Yours.

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Forensic Education: Essential Knowledge For Healthcare Workers

February 1, 2010 by Admin

In the past, the only patients that received forensic evaluations were those individuals who had died from devastating consequences or unknown causes. With the development and advancement of clinical forensic practice, the scope of care now extends into evaluations of living patients, and goes beyond the medical treatment of symptoms and injuries. Forensic knowledge/training should be incorporated into the education curriculum of all healthcare workers. This education is essential for teaching specialized techniques, following stringent guidelines, and adhering to required standards when caring for any forensic patient. Forensic training will enable healthcare workers to develop competency and skills needed to do the following: 1. Differentiate and properly evaluate patients with potential/actual symptoms/injuries of a forensic- related nature. 2. Address presenting legal issues and responsibilities regarding patient care in and out of the healthcare setting. 3. Confront perpetrated violence by aiding law enforcement in the objectives of criminal investigations. 4. Promote pro-active approaches to the early detection as well as the prevention of abuse, neglect, and violence. Healthcare workers play an important role in the forensic evaluation process. Forensic education is essential for successful collaboration with the other disciplines involved, and imperative for providing the forensic patient with the best care and the most positive outcome.

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Mental Health

January 28, 2010 by Admin

Mental health is one of my favorite subjects. Maybe because we are all at risk for a psychological breakdown. Maybe because I have seen and experienced many mental health problems in my own environment. Friends and family have been afflicted with chemical dependency, depression, bi-polar and risk for suicide. I find it curious, though, that the designer condition, among my friends’ children, especially teen girls, seems to be bipolar or borderline. These girls all know the terms and almost seem to enjoy "schlepping around" (hanging around) the psych unit in their PJs. I wonder about some of these privileged girls and if psych care and diagnosis makes them even more coddled?

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Stings Sweeling, and facial recognition

January 25, 2010 by Admin

I wonder if inflammation from a bite or sting affects the facial recognition. For example, say someone is hiking in the woods and is stung by a swarm of bees, causing them to pass away. The face and body would have extensive swelling due to the venom in the bee sting. It would seem the basic structure of the face and body would remain unchanged because no bones were broken and no body structure damaged (unless a fall or something took place alongside the stings). I would imagine the same would be true of a food allergy, like peanuts. When someone eats something they are allergic too, their windpipe closes restricting the air flow. That would attest to the sudden, otherwise unharmed body. But their face and bodies swell too. Would that swelling cause someone not to recognize them?

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Mental retardation and abuse

January 25, 2010 by Admin

I have always had a passion for individuals with a developmental delay. It makes me shudder at the thought that certain individuals may abuse, neglect or even kill them. Understandably, diseases like Turners Syndrome, Downs Syndrome, and other disorders are horrible. Those individuals will never have the potential that someone without these disorders will. But that is not to say that those individuals will have an input on the world. For example, my mother’s best friend has a son with Downs Syndrome. With his disorder and personal development, it will be hard for him to live alone, so he still lives at home. His mother has been diagnosed with MS and is confined to a wheelchair. Without the help of her son, she would be completely alone. It is not our place to mistreat individuals because we get frustrated or don’t grasp their existence. But on a forensic level, it must be very very hard to understand the causes of death in these individual if cause by abuse and neglect – with their facial deformations and bodily dysfunctions. This is all the more reason for us as individuals with typical development to stand up for these people and advocate for them.

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Livor, Rigor, and Algor Mortis and Inflammation

January 25, 2010 by Admin

One item of interest that I have been reading on is inflammation and its role in identifying a body after death. The website of Forensic Pathology talks about the time of death and the ways to tell when that happened. It speaks on livor mortis, rigor mortis, and algor mortis. Livor mortis, being the discoloration of the body due to blood settling, and the rigor mortis, the stiffening of the body, would be the areas of mortis that would promote inflammation. As I have never seen a dead body, I have never seen how these two types change the body after death. I have only seen a dead body in a funeral home, so I’ve only seen one after the funeral director and staff has done their jobs, which I am sure has some kind of draining.

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