Forensic Nursing: From TV Crime to Real-Life Advocation
CSU student and nurse Katie Pentito, BSN, RN, MSN (c), remembers watching CSI: Crime Scene Investigation with her mom, being intrigued as the investigators on-screen applied medical tools and methodology to evidence, to determine the story and how things fit together. The fusion of science and advocation for victims spoke to her. With a nursing education and years in the field, could she pursue forensics?
Pentito, a travel nurse since 2014, was inspired. She started researching forensic programs, and when she stumbled upon CSU’s specialized track, it immediately felt like the right fit.
Cleveland State’s School of Nursing offers multiple graduate level programs including a Master of Science in Nursing with a specialization track in Forensic Nursing. The forensic track program, which is ranked 3rd in Ohio and 47th in the nation, combines applied nursing, forensic science, and law to advocate for victims and their families. Though forensic nursing seems somewhat unfamiliar, the program at CSU has been around since the 1980s and was finally recognized by the American Nursing Association (ANA) as a specialty in 1995.
Forensic nursing differs from practical nursing due to the legal and forensic aspects that are present as the nurses work with victims to examine and document medical evidence.
“As forensic nurses work with victims of crime and violence and gather forensic evidence, their examination, documentation, and collection of evidence is often utilized and tested in court,” Pentito explained. “After working through my assignments, I realized that I was on the right path and that I wanted to pursue a career in death investigation.”
Forensic Nurse Death Investigators act as representatives of the medical examiner or coroner's office, collecting evidence from the body and surrounding area. They work collaboratively with the police and other authorities to ensure a thorough, accurate and timely investigation.
Last spring, Pentito took a demography and epidemiology course taught by Dr. Maureen Mitchell – her favorite investigative nursing course to-date. Epidemiology focuses on the life cycle of disease – from incidence, to how it’s spread, to controlling the outbreak. With COVID-19 unfolding across the globe, Dr. Mitchell had a practical application of the course material right in front of her.
“Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on one’s perspective, COVID-19 gave us a living real-time laboratory to apply the concepts and practice of epidemiology while we were living through the pandemic,” shared Dr. Mitchell. “Graduate students were able to serve as sources of science-based information regarding the virus and controlling its spread for other colleagues, patients, family members, and the community.”
Just after the course completed, Pentito was offered a six-month contract in New York by FEMA. During the height of the pandemic in 2020, Pentito worked on the frontlines in a Manhattan hospital, along with countless others, to care for the onslaught of patients affected by COVID-19.
“It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for me,” Pentito explained. “Dr. Mitchell was very supportive of my endeavors in New York. She was also great at starting discussions on the pandemic and sharing great journal articles on the COVID-19 virus.”
After an unprecedented summer that brought her studies to life, Pentito returned to CSU. The pandemic had slowed down a bit as she moved into the second year of the program. This spring, she has been working on her Capstone Practicum, as she inches closer to graduating.
“When I’m at my practicum at Lorain County Coroner’s Office I try to seek out every learning opportunity and when there is down time, I work independently on schoolwork,” she shared. “The instructors of the program are also aware of this reality and provide us with a good curriculum and structure that works well and gives us the opportunity to not only advance educationally through the program, but also not be so overwhelmed academically that we cannot continue working or socializing when we have the opportunity.”
Life-work-school balance is certainly key to maintaining sanity. However, it’s imperative to have strong time management skills, Pentito said. Calendars and reminders help her keep up with due dates of various assignments, while she takes advantage of her days off to work through discussions and replies.
Between the studying and working, however, there are successes. Pentito developed a COVID-19 Suicide Screening Instrument that was presented for use to a major hospital system in Lorain County. The Lorain County Coroner noted a spike in suicide cases during the pandemic. Pentito’s capstone project highlights the importance that all health professionals pay specific attention to the impact and stress COVID-19 has had on individuals’ ability to cope during this unprecedented time.
Her end-goal is in sight, though. With just another semester to go, Pentito is looking forward to taking some well-deserved time off after graduation, to spend with her children and exploring new hobbies. Then she will start the next phase – looking for work with a medical examiner’s office as a death investigator, or perhaps with the CDC as a Forensic Epidemiology, Health Specialist, or Public Health Data Analyst.
From introductory forensic nursing and methodology classes, to courses that address sexual assault, how to work a crime scene, exploring ethics and the legal system – students in CSU’s forensic nursing program also graduate with 500 clinical hours that can be applied towards a doctorate in nursing.
“If you have the mindset of wanting to do more with your career by advocating for victims of violence and crime, you are intrigued by death investigations shows or podcasts, you have an interest in forensic science and law, and you have the strong desire to put your nursing skills to use in order to help individuals and families that have been through a traumatic event, then the Forensic Nursing Program is for you.”
For more information about CSU’s Forensic Nursing Track visit csuohio.us/3aQToPP.