Arlene Kent-Wilkinson

Forensic Psychiatric/Mental Health Nursing: Responsive to Social Need

Forensic nursing is an emerging global nursing specialty, with subspecialties that focus on nursing practice at the clinical-legal interface of tending to victims and offenders, living and deceased. An integrated review of the literature provides an overview of the role development of forensic nursing subspecialties. The subspecialties of forensic nursing that deal with the mental health care of victims and offenders are the focus of this paper. Forensic nursing, like all forensic specialties, developed from a need in society for a medico-legal role. This paper discusses the global role of forensic nursing and argues that role development has been both proactive and responsive to vital needs of victims and offenders in society. Advanced practice forensic nurses have taken leadership roles in the role development of this nursing specialty. A future challenge for forensic psychiatric/mental health nurses with advanced education is to take leadership roles in all areas of psychiatric assessment, intervention, and evaluation of clients.

International Nursing Student Exchange: Rural and Remote Clinical Experiences in Australia

ABSTRACT A rural and remote international clinical exchange permits the senior nursing student to experience another culture and to develop a feel for daily life and nursing practice abroad. In a student exchange between Australia and Canada, similarities exist with regard to life and work for nurses who live in these developed countries. Similarities extend to a growing population base of original inhabitants or indigenous peoples with complex health challenges. Differences, however, are also apparent in rural and remote health care delivery due to the uniqueness of each countrys demographics, nursing programs, nursing culture, and health care systems. In the rural hospitals of the Riverland region, South Australia, the Australian public and private health care systems are witnessed working side by side. Aboriginal health care with its unique cultural care practices was experienced in the remote Aboriginal community of Hermannsburg in the Northern Territory, and in the district hospital in Alice Springs. The international exchange provided the opportunity to reflect on the impact of the social determinants of health, and the similarities and differences between developed countries in nursing practice and nursing culture. The sense of community and autonomy gained in rural and remote placements in Australia provided incentive for nursing students to consider this area of practice on their return to Canada.

An exploratory study of forensic nursing education in North America: Constructed definitions of forensic nursing

&NA; The aim of this study was to explore forensic nursing knowledge as a specialty area of study, and factors influencing its educational development. A purposeful sample of nurse educators who had established some of the earliest forensic nursing programs in North America were sought for their perspective to answer predominantly qualitative questions. Unexpected findings from this study resulted in the concept of forensic nursing being described, differentiated, and defined. Since the inception of forensic nursing, numerous definitions have been written to articulate the knowledge of the specialty. The constructed definitions of forensic nursing from this study not only validated prior definitions developed by individuals and associations by nonresearchable methods, but also led to a discussion of what concepts are important to include in definitions of forensic nursing.

Forensic nursing education in North America: Social factors influencing educational development

&NA; In the mid 1990s, some of the first formal forensic nursing educational programs were established. Now more than a decade later, courses exist at educational levels from certificate to doctorate programs, with little educational research having been conducted. This recent study explored forensic nursing knowledge as a specialty area of study and factors influencing educational development. This paper reports on social factors that facilitated and impeded educational development in the forensic nursing specialty from the perspective of forensic nurse educators in North America. Changing attitudes to previously sanctioned professional roles in society provided discussion for implications for forensic nursing practice.

Toward the establishment of a forensic nursing specialty in Brazil: an integrative literature review.

Background: Over the past two decades, Brazil has made progress in bringing political and community attention to issues related to violence. The recognition of links between violence and health has intensified calls to accelerate the development of a forensic nursing specialty in Brazil. Aim: The aim of this study was to systematically examine and synthesize the literature on the development of the forensic nursing specialty around the globe and to extract important lessons for the establishment of a forensic nursing specialty in Brazil. Method: An integrative review was conducted according to the method described by Whittmore and Knafl (2005). Electronic searches of the following databases were conducted between December 2012 and March 2013: CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Criminal Justice, Index to Legal periodicals, MEDLINE, Soc Index with Full Text, Social Work Abstracts, SCOPUS, and PsycINFO. The search terms used were: [(TI nurs* or SU nurs*) and [TI (forensic* or penal or prison*) or SU (forensic* or penal or prison*)] and (sexual assault nurse examiner*). Preestablished inclusion/exclusion criteria were used to select published articles for review. Results: Twenty-three articles met inclusion criteria and were included in the full review. Important lessons for Brazil are discussed in terms of education and curricular issues and forensic psychiatric nursing. Conclusions: In Brazil, there is a window of opportunity to contribute the theoretical foundations of forensic nursing science and to advance nursing specialty practice in the areas of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners and forensic psychiatric nurses.