Forensic Nursing: Beyond the Evidence
Forensic Nursing: Beyond the Evidence
Podcast Description
Treating patients at the darkest moment of their lives and putting them on the road to healing relies on compassion and skill from highly trained forensic nurses. Join hosts Kalen and Karen and deepen your own world of knowledge as you learn more about the real-life, evidence-based, trauma-informed care that patients who are victims of violence deserve. Podcast brought to you by the International Association of Forensic Nurses, the world’s largest and original forensic nursing professional organization.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast covers a range of themes centered on forensic nursing, including trauma-informed care, legislative advocacy, and the intersection of healthcare and law. Key episodes discuss topics like the role of nurses in death investigations, the impact of forensic nursing on legislation, and the emotional challenges faced by nurses. Specific episodes highlight the importance of building trust within healthcare systems and the practical steps nurses can take to influence policy.

Treating patients at the darkest moment of their lives and putting them on the road to healing relies on compassion and skill from highly trained forensic nurses. Join hosts Kalen and Karen and deepen your own world of knowledge as you learn more about the real-life, evidence-based, trauma-informed care that patients who are victims of violence deserve. Podcast brought to you by the International Association of Forensic Nurses, the world’s largest and original forensic nursing professional organization.
In this conversation, hosts Kalen and Karen welcome two Canadian experts, neurosurgeon Dr. Michael Ellis and forensic nurse leader Ashley Stewart, to spotlight the often overlooked reality of head trauma among survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV). Drawing comparisons to sport-related concussion, the guests unpack why healthcare systems lack proper protocols, how this gap harms patient outcomes, and what forensic nurses can do to help their patients get on the road to healing. We introduce the new IAFN IPV Head Trauma Toolkit—built to standardize screening, assessment, documentation, and safety planning—so clinicians can identify injuries earlier, refer appropriately, and improve patients’ recovery trajectories.
Key Episode Learnings:
- Learn the importance of early recognition of IPV-related head trauma that improves patient recovery and safety.
- Discover the available screening tools and protocols for detecting head blows and strangulation, reducing missed TBIs.
- Uncover how expanding sport-concussion awareness to specific IPV care and TBI protocol development can improve patient recovery and healthcare outcomes.
- Explore building referral networks with concussion clinics and neurology to accelerate access to professional forensic nursing care.
- Learn about the new standardized and comprehensive resources for assessment of patients with acute intimate partner violence related head trauma.
Episode Resources:
IAFN Resources
- IAFN Online Learning Center (OLC): forensicnurses.org/page/OLCAccess/
- TeleSAFE Toolkit: Access this Step-by-Step Guide to a Trauma-Informed Program at forensicnurses.org/page/TeleSAFE/
- International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN): Learn more at forensicnurses.org
- IAFN Foundation: Support our work to spread forensic nursing at fundforensicnursing.org
- IAFN’s SAFEta Resources: Explore safeta.org
- National Tribal Clearinghouse on Sexual Assault (NTCSA): Supporting tribal communities at supportingourcircle.org
Join the Conversation
Have questions or topics you’d like us to cover? Send us a voice message on our website at forensicnurses.org/podcast/ Let’s make this podcast a resource tailored to YOU!
Connect with Us
- Website: Forensic Nurses
- Instagram: @iafn_forensicnurses
- IAFN Membership
- Subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter
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