The forensic nurse and violence prevention and response in public health

Abstract

Title 17 U.S.C. 101 defines a U.S. Government work as a work prepared by a military service member or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties. LCDR Ferguson is a military service member. This work was prepared as part of her official duties. Title 17 U.S.C. 105 provides that Copyright protection under this title is not available for any work of the U.S. Government. The forensic nurse who responds to incidents of violence, such as sexual assault, domestic violence, gang violence, human trafficking, homicide, and suicide frequently devotes long hours providing professional health care and forensic nursing expertise to a variety of patient populations. In attempting to both improve the patient care process and mitigate occurrences of violence in the community, one of the problems forensic nurses encounter is that there are a limited number of opportunities to share expertise with violence prevention and response (VIPR) programs in local communities or on national stage. In addition, for nongraduate forensic nurses within healthcare and/or public health programs, there is little opportunity to develop population based research using cohorts subjected to violence, develop or implement VIPR programs, or test valid and reliable tools that evaluate the outcomes in those programs. While a number of current advocacy and behavioral health programs exist to address violence prevention and intervention across the United States, evidence supports healthcare programs responding to violence still remain inadequately developed and often do not include the