Forensics for Nursing
NURS 4309
Spring 2012 · Comment ·
The term 鈥渇orensic nursing鈥� may conjure images of nurses tending to lifeless bodies, but that鈥檚 dead wrong. As students enrolled in Clinical Assistant Professor Nancy Roper Willson鈥檚 Forensics for Nursing course soon discover, the emerging field refers to the interplay of the law and nursing. Throughout the popular summertime elective, which is conducted mostly online, students cover topics like nurses who kill, nurses in the courtroom (as expert witnesses), prescription drug abuse, and 糖心Vlog视频 evidence collection protocol. One key element in teaching forensics to nurses is to equip them with a heightened skepticism. 鈥淚t helps nurses recognize a situation as suspicious, one that otherwise may go undetected,鈥� says Dr. Willson, who is also an attorney and UT Arlington alumna. 鈥淭he nurse would then assure that further investigation is conducted by the appropriate person.鈥� At the conclusion of the course, students present reports on topics ranging from 鈥淭he History of Bite Mark Evidence in Court鈥� to 鈥淭he Signs of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome vs. Infanticide.鈥�