Legal Eagles
Nurse lawyers make a case for RNs to apply their medical knowledge to the legal field

By Scott Williams
February 21, 2002

One of the most natural ways for a nurse to make a career change that involves the law is through forensic nursing, a branch of nursing that involves collecting evidence in criminal cases and, occasionally, in civil lawsuits.

Many hospitals have forensic nurses on staff, said Faye Battiste-Otto, RN, a sexual assault nurse examiner and president and CEO of American Forensic Nurses, a Palm Springs, Calif., company. They help law enforcement agencies to collect and preserve evidence from sexual assault victims, drunken drivers or suspected lawbreakers.

Battiste-Otto came up with the idea for her company while working as an emergency room nurse. She noticed that law enforcement personnel often spent hours in the hospital waiting for suspects or victims to be examined.

"I thought that was an awful waste of taxpayer dollars and decided to provide these services to jail facilities," she said.

Battiste-Otto, who has a staff of 75, now provides services for 75 law enforcement agencies in Southern California.

"If you had called me two years ago, I would have said it was the wave of the future," she said. "It's not the wave of the future, it's here and now and it's here to stay."

Private institutions provide training courses on forensic nursing, and colleges and universities have begun offering master's-level training in the field, she said. A common form of forensic nursing can be seen in the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) programs throughout the country.

Kathy Bell, director of forensic nursing services and SANE coordinator for the Tulsa (Okla.) Police Department, said SANE programs in the United States number between 300 and 600.

She said that prior to the SANE program, people who performed the exams didn't know how to do them and often didn't want to. Having qualified nurses available to perform the exams not only brings professionalism to the process, it also defuses a stressful situation.

"These programs are designed to have a faster response and, in some cases, a more compassionate response," Bell said.

Battiste-Otto said RNs already have the skills to work as forensic nurses. Receiving a formal education, however, adds to their credibility. Some won't like the hours they have to work as a forensic nurse, she said. Many are on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

She said another drawback is the pressure associated with testifying in court. Forensic nurses will be subjected to cross-examination, and mishandling an examination or testimony can lose a case.

"[Prosecutors] won't remember the many cases you've won for them," she said, "but they will certainly remember the one case that did not go through."