Forensic Nursing: Beyond the Evidence

Florence to Forensics: The Evolution of Nursing Care

Episode Summary

As we celebrate National Nurses Week in May, Kalen and Karen take us on a fascinating journey through nursing history. Did you know that foundational concepts like trauma-informed care, confidentiality, and environmental healing date as far back to Florence Nightingale in the 1800s? We explore how the pioneering nurses and their ideas laid groundwork for modern practice while contrasting them with forensic nursing's recent emergence—still in its relative infancy despite its critical importance in healthcare today.

Episode Notes

As we celebrate National Nurses Week in May, Kalen and Karen take us on a fascinating journey through nursing history. Did you know that foundational concepts like trauma-informed care, confidentiality, and environmental healing date as far back to Florence Nightingale in the 1800s? We explore how the pioneering nurses and their ideas laid groundwork for modern practice while contrasting them with forensic nursing's recent emergence—still in its relative infancy despite its critical importance in healthcare today.

Key Episode Learnings:

• Explore the inspiring story of Florence Nightingale and development of the "Environmental Theory" in patient healing and recovery
• Discover when the core concepts of modern nursing practice originated 
• Learn about the first registered male nurse and how army training affected nursing development as a profession
• Uncover the groundbreaking role of the first African American professionally trained nurse—and who may be the first ever African American forensic nurse (the answer may surprise you!)
• Dive into how the "mother of forensic nursing" pioneered the movement in the 1980s by creating the first graduate education program combining nursing and forensic science
• Learn when the first SANE programs got established and when violence was officially identified as a healthcare issue by the U.S. Surgeon General 

Registration for #IAFN2025 Omaha International Conference on Forensic Nursing Science & Practice is open! Learn more and register here before the pre- and post- workshop seats fill up and early bird prices go up: forensicnurses.org/2025conference