An FNE’s comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of injury and the resulting insult to the human body significantly enhances their ability to evaluate criminal cases and provide insights into the nature and potential causes of injuries.
The key ways FNEs do this are:
Accurate Injury Assessment: assessing and documenting the nature, extent, and patterns of injuries and distinguishing between different types of trauma, such as blunt force, sharp force, or ballistic injuries.
Determining Cause of Injuries: inferring the potential causes of injuries, determining whether injuries are accidental, self-inflicted, or inflicted by another, and establishing the mechanism of injury.
Correlating Injuries with Evidence: reconstructing the events leading to the injury and correlating physical injuries with other evidence, such as bloodstain patterns, weapon characteristics, and environmental factors.
Identifying Signs of Abuse or Neglect: signs can be subtle and may be easily missed by those without specialized training.
Collaborative Investigations: working with other professionals to guide investigations, support the development of case theories, and assist in formulating questions for witnesses and suspects.
Evaluation of Consistency: determining if the victim’s and/or suspect’s accounts of events correlate with the physical evidence and/or medical findings.
By leveraging their knowledge of trauma, forensic nurse consultants play a vital role in uncovering the truth in criminal cases and providing a thorough and scientifically sound evaluation of injuries.
