Significance

• Forensic nurses are required to help in many aspects of a crime investigation. They are asked to be expert medical witnesses, or to be nurses to those that have suffered sexual assaults and they can be asked to take part in death investigations involved with a crime. As the "go-between" for the medical field and the justice system, forensic nurses can also work in conjunction with the medical examiner's office.
  
  

Function

• As a forensic nurse, not only do you need to already be a registered nurse (or RN), but you also need to certify and study specifically in the field you wish to pursue, like forensics, and take classes in criminal procedures. Certification as a forensic nurse means that you can be called to contribute to legal testimony and will be assisting with the collection of forensic evidence. Passing the exam to be a certified SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners) nurse will show that you are a professional, are committed to the job and have a high level of expertise in your field.
  
  

Types

• Another type of forensic nurse is the "nurse death investigator" or a nurse in the field of "medicolegal death investigation". According to an article on TheForensicNurse.com, nurse death investigators (or medicolegal death investigators) were used to help determine the identity of some of the remains that were discovered in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Working with the medical examiner's office or in the emergency room of a hospital is also an option when pursuing this path.
  
  

Potential

• According to the American Forensic Nurses, working as a nurse death investigator can afford you titles also like "deputy coroner" depending on where you work, and in most cases, you are assisting the medical examiner (ME) in the jurisdiction where you work. Having organized documentation skills, investigative abilities and utilization of your medical background helps with the amount of responsibility that comes with this particular position.
  
  

Considerations

• Duties as a nurse death investigator include examining the body or bodies at the scene of the crime or accident, pronouncing the time of death, working with detectives, taking any samples of blood or tissue samples for forensics lab work, taking pictures of the crime scene and the body, and helping to arrange the transport of the body from the scene of the crime to the coroner's office for autopsy. Keeping perfect documentation of all paperwork and records is also a needed skill for this position. When autopsies are performed, the nurse death investigator is usually in the room with the forensic pathologist to assist with evidence collection.