Forensic nursing and assessing musculoskeletal injuries.
When performing assessment of musculoskeletal system be aware of other causes of injuries. In today’s society injuries can be of accidental cause but a nurse needs to be aware of clues to look for when assessing patient’s injuries, especially in children. Assess for injuries in various stages of healing. If a child has bruises or fractures in various stages of healing refer for further assessment. Also be suspicious of injuries that do not correspond to the nature of the injury, such as broken bone in a child that does not walk or climb yet. Injuries that are in shape of objects such as, belt buckles, hangers, etc. In assessing musculoskeletal status pay attention to difficulties in walking or sitting, lags in physical development, failure to thrive. Since child abuse
continues to be a problem and cases go unreported due to the privacy of the family unit, nurses both in acute and school settings need to be vigilante in detecting child abuse.
Forensic Nursing Chronicles 