CSI-Meets Nursing: Study On Your Own Schedule to Become a Forensic Nurse Through Purdue
| School Overview | |
|---|---|
| Serves: | Worldwide |
| Accredited by: | HLC |
| Enrollment: | Quarterly |
| Financial Aid: | Yes |
| Scholarships: | Yes |
Nursing "Cool"
The Forensic Nursing Certificate is a 12-month curriculum designed to prepare professional RNs for challenging work with law enforcement. This is a new field, a kind of CSI-meets-Nursing, and perhaps one of the most intriguing. This is not to say that it is for everyone. Nurses that pursue forensics must be willing to adapt to environments in which patients may be alive or dead, victims of crime, or criminals themselves.
Diverse Work and Patient Environments
Criminal justice or law enforcement agencies have begun hiring specially trained nurses to handle, one-on-one, victims of sexual assault and other violent crimes. Nurses that work in these capacities are taught to employ nursing modalities, while also applying proper investigative methods to collect evidence and information relative to a criminal case. Nurses in forensic roles must have a compassionate, but tough exterior. They may be required to work with sexual assault victims, collecting sensitive physical evidence. In these instances nurses must be able to walk a line between criminal investigator and patient advocate. In other situations a forensic nurse may be brought in to examine the circumstances of a dead body, perform perfunctory physical exams, collect evidence, and conduct a simple onsite evaluation. RNs may work with coroners and medical examiners, alongside police officers, and in tandem with psychiatrists and psychologists.
The Forensic Nursing curriculum includes: investigation of a dead body, collection of court evidence, crisis intervention, psychology, and preparation of reports and investigative documentation. Tuition cost for the online program is $3,500. Over the course of a year, working nurses may log on and study at their own pace. Requirements for the program include RN licensure. Nurses with Associates or Bachelors degrees may be eligible to apply.
Forensic nurses work in a variety of settings, including: law enforcement agencies, hospital emergency and trauma units, corrections, domestic violence units, and community and public health.
Purdue University Global Specializes in Adult Education
Purdue University Global has been in the business of adult education since the late 1930s. Online degree programs allow adult learners access on their educational terms: convenient, affordable, relevant, and skills-based. Didactic programs heavy on theory fail to appeal to adults in time-crunches. This is precisely why online educational programs have become so successful.
