The International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) held their International Conference on Forensic Nursing Science and Practice in Anaheim, California from October 21-24, 2013. There were just over 700 attendees from various countries around the world. This was a record attendance for the IAFN.
The conference featured workshop tracks in the following areas: administrative and leadership, death investigations, general forensic and legal, intimate partner violence, pediatrics, psychiatry and corrections and sexual assault nurse examiners (SANE).
Forensic Health Science instructor and Investigations Officer from WorkSafeBC, Colin Harris, was a presenter at this conference. With Colin’s background in policing, forensics, as a coroner and a registered nurse he has applied these skills in the investigation of fatal and serious injuries in occupational accidents. Colin’s presentation was based on his recently completed Masters in Nursing capstone project entitled: Forensic Evaluation of Trauma in Occupational Injury and Fatality Investigations: The Application of Forensic Nursing Science.
WorkSafeBC is using Colin as a Forensic Nurse Specialist to interpret occupational trauma, assist in determining mechanism of injury, assist in event reconstruction, and use medical knowledge to understand factors intertwined in natural versus accidental events. This is an innovative new focus for forensic nursing expertise that one of our instructors is applying in the occupational health and safety environment. Colin will have a related article published in the upcoming December 2013 issue of the Journal of Forensic Nursing.