Citation

Peel M. Emerg. Nurse 2016; 24(7): 20-26.

Affiliation

Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust, Police Custody Healthcare, Wetherby Health Centre, Wetherby.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, RCN Publishing)

DOI

10.7748/en.2016.e1618

PMID

27830595

Abstract

Victims of violence often seek assistance from emergency departments, so emergency nurses are ideally placed to identify them, and other 'forensic' patients, and protect the evidence that could support any ensuing legal process. Emergency nurses who are trained to identify, collect and preserve forensic evidence can support the identification, elimination and prosecution of suspects. This article gives an overview of forensic evidence, and explains how emergency nurses can preserve and collect samples effectively.

Language: en