Forensic Nursing Chronicles

Physical exams pertaining to female reproductive systems in regards to possible sexual assaults one must take special precautions to prevent destroying crucial evidence. Statistics indicate that each year women are the victims of more than 4.5 million violent crimes, including more than 500,000 rape and other sexual assaults. The Forensic nurse specialist would be important in taking a proactive stance in treating victims of these crimes. Nurses in general must pay particular attention to the physical and verbal cues presented by the client. Nurses should key into specific findings such as: edema, erythema, contusions, and hemorrhage. If these indicators are present then a rape kit might be warranted or at least further assessed. In these instances it is best to have someone that has special training to assist the victim through this process. The care provided could make the difference on how the victims assimilate the incidence.

This entry was posted on October 5, 2006 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.