A Practical Guide to Forensic Nursing: Incorporating Forensic Principles Into Nursing Practice

Victims of violence are unfortunately ever-present in healthcare today. Regardless of the setting, nurses are often the first to interact with victims and regularly must step into uncomfortable or difficult situations. To ensure patient and provider safety and enable the best possible outcomes, every nurse should be well-versed in forensic and theoretical issues of violence.

A Practical Guide to Forensic Nursing is an evidence-based guide to understanding and applying forensic nursing science. Authors Angela F. Amar and L. Kathleen Sekula introduce practical and theoretical perspectives on violence and provide valuable resources, including injury assessment and violence prevention strategies as well as an overview of relevant legal, ethical, societal, and policy issues. Whether you are a student, new nurse, or experienced clinician, you will find the right tools and strategies to broaden your understanding of violence and help you integrate forensic science into your patient care.

1st Place 2016 AJN Book of the Year

A Practical Guide to Forensic Nursing: Incorporating Forensic Principles into Nursing Practice Awarded first place in the 2016 AJN Book of the year Awards in the Critical Care-Emergency Nursing category.

3rd Place 2016 AJN Book of the Year

A Practical Guide to Forensic Nursing: Incorporating Forensic Principles into Nursing Practice Awarded third place in the 2016 AJN Book of the Year Awards in the Medical-Surgical Nursing Category.

Angela F. Amar, PhD, RN, FAAN, is an associate professor and assistant dean for BSN education in the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University. She conducts research on dating violence, mental health responses to trauma, and strategies to increase help-seeking behavior. Her research consistently focuses on African-American women. She has conducted funded research, published more than 45 articles and book chapters on dating violence and sexual assault, and is active in university service related to violence and diversity. Amar is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing, member of the Expert Panel on Psychiatric and Substance Abuse Care, and co-chair of its Expert Panel on Violence. Amar also serves on the Institute of Medicine Committee on the Biological and Psychosocial Effects of Peer Victimization: Lessons for Bullying Prevention.She is a distinguished fellow with the International Association of Forensic Nurses and received the 2015 Excellence in Practice and Policy award from the Nursing Network on Violence Against Women International. Amar is on the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing Scholars program, a public voices fellow with the Op-Ed project, and an associate editor for the Journal of Forensic Nursing. Amar is certified as a clinical nurse specialist in advanced practice adult psychiatric and mental health and as an advanced forensic nurse. In her faculty role at Boston College, she developed a graduate program in forensic nursing and secured funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration for the program.

L. Kathleen Sekula, PhD, PMHCNS, FAAN, is a professor at Duquesne University School of Nursing in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She has strengthened the role of forensic nursing regarding victims and perpetrators of violence through her leadership in evidence-based graduate programs and her continuing energy to expand forensic nursing science through her research and practice trajectory. Sekula created the graduate forensic programs (MSN, DNP, and PhD) at the School of Nursing with the support of two 3-year program grants from the Department of Health and Human Services. As an innovator in the area of forensic nursing practice, she provides guidance to forensic nurse professionals in theUnited States and other countries. She served as president of the International Association of Forensic Nurses Certification Board and in that capacity worked to establish forensic nurse certification at the advanced practice level. She served on the editorial review board for the International Journal of Forensic Nursing for 6 years and continues as a reviewer for the journal. Sekula is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing and serves on the Expert Panel on Violence. She is a recipient of the Virginia Lynch Pioneer in Nursing Award from the International Association of Forensic Nurses. She is an advanced practice adult psychiatric mental health clinical nurse specialist and maintains a faculty practice in the care of patients with depression and anxiety, many of whom are current and/or previous victims of violence. Sekula serves on the board of the Cyril H. Wecht Institute of Forensic Science and Law, as adjunct faculty in the School of Law, and as an advisor to the programs offered through the institute.