Forensic Nursing Journals for Practitioners: Ultimate Guidebook for Practitioners

Forensic Nursing Journals for Practitioners:Ultimate Guidebook for PractitionersForensic nursing is a continuously developing andgrowing branch of nursing and health care. Itcould be considered a branch of the judicialsystem as well since it tackles evidencecollection, which is critical to specificcriminal cases. Associations that help forensicnurses like the American Nurses Association (ANA)and the International Association of ForensicNurses (IAFN) help promote the practice andassist their members through the publication offorensic nursing journals.There is one official journal of the IAFN, whichit calls Journal of Forensic Nursing. This comes

out on a quarterly basis and is distributed amongthe members of the association.The main goal of this journal is to help in theadvancement of the science of forensic nursing bysharing information about so many cases relatedto forensics that have been handled byexperienced forensic professionals. This journalincludes manuscripts that serve as a rich sourceof knowledge for beginners or even those who havealready started their careers.These manuscripts are submitted by the membersand extensively reviewed by the board before theyget published. This is to make sure that theinformation will truly benefit the members whowill read them and refer to them when they needto. The requirement for a manuscript to seepublication is for it to be original and has neverbeen published yet.There are also certain guidelines to follow for

those who wish to have their work included in thejournal. All the details including thephotographs, tables, and references shouldstrictly conform to the standards set by thePublication Manual of the American PsychologicalAssociation.Forensic nursing, which has gained momentum in1992, is the practice of applying nursing scienceto legal proceedings. Forensic nurses providehealth care services directly to patients who arevictims of violent crimes. They also assistpeople in treating trauma and in handling death,or abuse of any kind.Forensic nurses deal with the following cases:* Domestic violence* Sexual assault* Abuse or neglect of child or elderly

* Psychological abuse* Human trafficking* Occult- or religious-related violence* Forensic mental or psychiatric health* Nursing in correctional establishments* Legal nurse consultations* Automobile or pedestrian accidents* Suicide attempt* Work-related injuries* Disasters* Administration of patient care

* Service accidents/injuries* Check for environmental hazards* Detect drug or alcohol abuse* Check illegal abortion* Tissue and organ donations or charity* Homicide cases* Suicide* Cases* Suspicious deathsIAFN and their plansSince IAFN is an international organization,

members to this association are scattered aroundthe world. The organization doesn 抰 only includeforensic nurses as members, but also otherprofessionals who provide support and complementthe work of the forensic nurses.The organization has initiated the journals toreach its goal of disseminating information aboutthe science and its growing number ofpractitioners. As the leader in the developmentof forensic nursing, the IAFN holds the followinggoals close to their principles:* Try to prevent violence as much as possible byhelping solve crimes faster* Make improvements on the current standards interms of evidence collection and forensic nursingpractice per se* Promote sharing of information within theprofessional circle to help each other grown in

the practice* Establish ethics in the practice of forensicnursing* Educate the up and coming forensic nursesThese goals are all aligned in the forensicnursing journals that are being published todevelop forensic nursing in the United States aswell as in other countries around the world.