Forensic Nursing Career
What Do You Do in a Forensic Nursing Career?
"Forensics" means using scientific techniques and tests to help in the investigation of crimes, therefore a forensic nurse participates in the scientific investigation of patients affected by crimes, such as abuse, violence, and traumatic accidents. This is one of the few nursing jobs that involves little or no direct patient care, but you do still need an active Registered Nurse (RN) license to work as a forensic nurse.
What Training Do You Need for a Forensic Nursing Career?
You first need to become a registered nurse, which you can do through a 4-year bachelor's of science degree in nursing (BSN), a 2 or 3-year associate degree in nursing (ADN), or a 3-year diploma program. If you become an RN through these latter two options and want to broaden your career prospects, you can often take advantage of tuition reimbursement and attend an RN-to-BSN program.
Likewise, if you already have a bachelor's degree in a different field, you can attend an accelerated BSN program, which usually lasts 12 -18 months.
All of these various nursing career paths involve supervised clinical experience and courses in:- Anatomy
- Behavioral sciences
- Chemistry
- Microbiology
- Nursing
- Nutrition
- Physiology
- Psychology
For your supervised clinical experience, you can work in a variety of hospital departments like pediatrics, surgery, or psychiatry, or at a nursing care facility, public health department, home health agency, or ambulatory clinic.
In some cases, a forensic nursing career may require a master's degree, but it's worth checking with employers in your state since requirements do vary.
The Following Schools Provide Educational Programs For Forensic Nursing Careers:
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