Master of Science in Nursing – Forensic Nursing

This course provides an introduction to forensic nursing science, and the role the forensic nurse plays in the bridge between medical and legal components. The course presents the evolution of forensic nursing and explores the various roles and responsibilities of the forensic nurse in a variety of healthcare and non-traditional settings. The forensic nursing specialty has evolved in part from society’s need to reduce and prevent interpersonal violence and criminal behavior. In both criminal and non-criminal incidents requiring investigation, there is a gap between the medical/forensic medical information and law enforcement/investigative agencies and the criminal justice system. This course will provide the framework for bridging this gap and students will uncover the potential for nurses to apply forensic nursing expertise in variety of settings and multidisciplinary environments.

This course will provide students with an understanding of the American correctional system. It covers various topics, including the history and law of corrections, punishment, and rehabilitation of offenders, correctional practices ranging from probation to prison, and correctional trends. To begin, this course provides an overview of corrections, including the early history of correctional thought. Later, correctional law and the punishment of offenders will be examined, including the various types of correctional clients. Correctional practices, including jails, probation, intermediate sanctions, and community corrections, are explored. Corrections also covers incarceration, including the prison experience for men and women. This course reviews issues related to institutional management and programs, as well as once offenders are released from incarceration. This course explores supervision of offenders in the community, as well as corrections for juveniles. It also covers various trends, including incarceration, race and ethnicity, and the death penalty. Finally, surveillance and control in the community are discussed,

This graduate-level course focuses on the Forensic Nursing specialist role through the application of theoretical concepts and strategies for a selected audience and the implementation of a quality improvement project in a health-related setting. Emphasis is on effective communication and sensitivity to varying needs of the audience. The Forensic Nursing specialist role will be analyzed and applied in collaboration with a master’s prepared nurse preceptor with experience in this specialty. Evidence-based strategies will be developed into a comprehensive project to engage learners in active learning and implemented to meet mutually determined outcomes. The student will complete an annotated bibliography and the project activities might include, but are not limited to: creating toolkit of resource references, developing a presentation, creating a survey to measure satisfaction with activity, attending professional meetings, writing a publishable article, presenting a topic to patients, creating a webinar, delivery of training modules, developing software to meet a need, developing an advocacy agenda or tool, or proposing a change in practice, process or procedure. This course requires a total of a minimum 120 hours of Forensic Nursing practicum experience within a practice environment, must include inter-professional collaboration and a minimum of 20 hours (included in the 120 hours) of direct-care experience. This course satisfies a practicum requirement for this program and is not eligible for transfer credit.