Forensic Nursing - Research Paper Example

Download file to see previous pages... The students learned while on job, mostly in healthcare facilities through observation and knowledge acquisition from experienced nurses (Burgess, Berger & Boersma, 2004). The fundamental nursing program of study focuses on firm psychological and physical science base. This essential base comprises human anatomy and physiology, behavioral sciences, biology, nursing arts, theory and general humanities. In the late 20hcentury, nursing ac a course became integral in a majority of universities. This immense advancement is attributable to demands of consumers as well as the more expansive roles for nursing. Nursing practice has undergone metamorphosis with the objective of meeting the needs of the society and the shifting clients’ needs. Conventionally, nurses have been trained as generalists and nurses with immense experience in clinical settings in specific areas are considered to be specialists. A specialty or occupation involving specialty calls for a body of practical application and theoretical knowledge. These undertakings have to be of highly specialized nature. Furthermore, a specialty area is often depicted to have a legally approved certification course which assesses the achievement of set standards. Additionally, specialty can be defined as a particular area of functional and clinical nursing with a fine, comprehensive focus for safe delivery of wide range of services in that specific nursing area. Early 1980s were a hallmark of a wide range of informal and formal nursing specialty programmes in nursing. Among pioneer specialties in nursing included areas of perinatal care, oncology and gerontology. The acknowledgment of a specialist field of practice is significantly increased with the training tracks which enhance the specialization (Lynch, 2007). Towards the end of the 20th century, it was a testament that a pioneering shift towards forensic nursing education was occurring globally at the levels of diploma, undergraduate and post-graduate. Development in this nursing specialty area was however slow compared to the already well established areas like gerontology and critical nurse care. Consequently, the educational advancement of forensic nursing was probably hampered by the need to first of all have a specialty accreditation. Forensic nursing is comprised of numerous subspecialties. In all these subcategories, the principal nursing practice is to offer care for offenders and victims both living and deceased. Such clinical care is interfaced with a legal perspective. Nurses who practice forensic application in their delivery of services are entangled to other disciplines hence it can be termed as a multidisciplinary specialty area. Such an interface allows forensic nurses to navigate systems such as child welfare system and criminal justice. Additionally, forensic nurses are linked to systems of medical examiner or coroner as well as the mental healthcare system all of which depend on provision of nursing services. Each subspecialty of forensic nursing has its own unique history and role in clinical practice development. Such factors have been influenced by societal needs reforms within healthcare settings and prisons as well as public sensitivity (Sekula, Colbert, Zoucha, Amar & Williams, 2012). An elaborate literature review in the field of forensic nursing identifies the following subspecialties in the nursing field; Forensic correctional or psychiatric nursing, sex ...Download file to see next pagesRead More