Criminal Law and the Courts

Catalog description

This course introduces the student to the critical processes involved in the collaboration between advanced forensic nursing practice and the legal system. It addresses the theoretical underpinnings of law as well as the interface of forensic science with law and nursing. Students are introduced to the trial process and to the application of the theories of forensic science and evidence collection in the courtroom. Students are exposed to an intensive examination of criminal law and forensic science using crime scene investigation procedures. The roles of the advanced practice forensic nurse within the legal system are examined. Methods of evidence collection in a variety of settings are delineated and the implications for forensic nurses in crime scene reconstruction, death investigation, toxicology, hair and fiber analysis, DNA, ballistics, arson, cyber-crime, psychiatry and psychology, bioterrorism, odontology and anthropology, linguistics, and entomology. The role of the forensic nurse examiner is studied through a 40 hour SANE-A training which prepares students to be precepted and then to sit for national certification.