Forensic Nursing: Changing Our Future, Keeping Our Past

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29173/jafn862

Abstract

In this editorial, Dr. Carter-Snell reviews changes that have been occurring in forensic nursing and what remains at our core.

Author Biography

Catherine Carter-Snell, Mount Royal University

I have worked with victims of trauma since 1977, including many years in Emergency as well as ICU, and since 1998 with victims of sexual assault and intimate partner violence. I developed and taught both an Emergency nursing certificate program and a forensic nursing program, which included the first online sexual assault nurse examiner program in North America. I have also developed a comprehensive collaborative sexual assault training program for rural areas across Canada. In 2002 I became the first examiner in Canada internationally certified by IAFN as a sexual assault nurse examiner of adults/adolescents (SANE-A). The Academy of Forensic Nursing awarded a Distinguised Fellowship (DF-AFN) and I have won a number of national and internationa awards for my research and teaching. I worked many years with specialized forensic teams and continue to teach and conduct research in this area. My focus is prevention of violence or early effective intervention to prevent consequences such as PTSD. Projects include the development of the BALD STEP guide to injuries and physical findings, now part of the RCMP sexual assault kit and the IAFN core curriculum, as well as research on gender based violence in disaster, injury patterns with sexual assault, improvement of sexual assault/IPV services for rural areas, transgender individuals and those with HIV, a dating violence prevention program and, most recently, stress in nursing students. 

References

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Scafide, K. N., Sheridan, D. J., Downing, N. R., & Hayat, M. J. (2020). Detection of Inflicted Bruises by Alternate Light: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial* ,†,‡. Journal of forensic sciences. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.14294

Sommers, M. S., Regueira, Y., Tiller, D. A., Everett, J. S., Brown, K., Brignone, E., & Fargo, J. D. (2019). Understanding rates of genital-anal injury: Role of skin color and skin biomechanics. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 66, 120-128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jflm.2019.06.019

Ullman, S. E. (2025). Do Survivor and Supporter Perceptions of Supporter Helpfulness and Social Reactions Affect Survivor PTSD Symptoms? Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 8862605251315766. https://doi.org/10.1177/08862605251315766

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Published

2025-04-16

How to Cite

Carter-Snell, C. . (2025). Forensic Nursing: Changing Our Future, Keeping Our Past. Journal of the Academy of Forensic Nursing, 3(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.29173/jafn862

Issue

Vol. 3 No. 1 (2025): JAFN-Journal of the Academy of Forensic Nursing

Section

Editorial

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Catherine Carter-Snell

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