Bibliography & Primary Research

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1spKA_6RzzGHveb2olv1z7dLroBqIG6vlGoPa3HNEcak/edit?usp=drive_web

This is an ongoing draft of my annotated bibliography for my ultimate project

Interview notes:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1PmJoI8KLGF69dYmJd5fB4bntPRiKdLLp96S7tiWyRL8/edit?usp=drive_web

This is the question set I used for my interview with Karen Carroll, a SANE certified nurse with the IAFN

Karen Carroll

• Part of the International Association of Forensic Nurses, but answers to questions were her own
• Listed forensic exam pieces as, “a head-to-toe physical exam and assessment, providing healthcare as it relates to the physical assessment, collection of potential forensic evidence from the patient's body, securing clothing and other evidence, photographing any injuries or findings, offering prophylactic medications to possibly prevent pregnancy, STIs and HIV, discussing referrals and follow-up and exams, and facilitating links to advocacy and criminal justice”
• Exams occur in hospitals as well as outpatient facilities and community organizations
• In her 28 year career in New York, she coordinated on-call programs that supplied SANE nurses 24/7/365 in certain counties as well as “a community based program that operated out of a Rape Crisis Center utilizing on-call nurses”
  • She currently provides technical assistance through the IAFN to SANE nurses, those in training, hospitals, and other entities and provides clinical labs
• She listed the most difficult aspects of a forensic exam as, “Making the decision to seek care or access the criminal justice system. The exam process itself can be difficult, overwhelming, and triggering, especially when it is not done by a trauma informed trained examiner.”
  • Would preliminary education help in making the decision to seek support? What could solve the issue of a lack of trauma informed examiners?
• She listed education as a major support factor for all survivors, but especially those in minority groups
  • She framed this as education for professionals - on current literature, best practices, the effects of trauma, and on their own implicit biases and how to move past these to provide the best care possible.
    • Should an educational tool inherently be focused on education for caretakers/providers? Does this alleviate the expectations on the survivor or does it perpetuate an existing problem by not addressing that education for professionals already exists and is not being utilized universally?
• Each piece of the forensic exam is explained and consent is received. Discharge instructions are written and handed out.
  • She identified that, “Resources that are not written and provided in lay terms may be difficult to understand. The effect of trauma on the brain and the way the patient is experiencing and processing their trauma could make resources difficult to understand.”
    • Need more research on the effects of trauma on the brain and emotional comprehension
• “Ideally, there should be written information provided to support persons, whether they are a person who supports the patient, or they are other members of the team who may interact with the patient both before and after the medical forensic exam.”
  • Does the use of the term “ideally” indicate that this is not always the case?
• When asked to speculate a more useful resource, she included details like:
  • something for someone who has recently experienced an assault that “could answer a lot of basic questions and encourage the person to seek medical care whether they are reporting the incident or not”
    • Stressing the importance of one’s own health and that an exam does not necessarily mean legal action
  • “could list those providers in the patients surrounding community that are known to be supportive to the patient's particular needs”
    • Need to choose an area (NC? NY?) and focus there to start the searching process, then build when the smaller version works
  • could “be useful to law enforcement to provide them with the location of the nearest forensic examiner programs and related community resources so that they would be aware of what is available in their jurisdiction”
    • Law enforcement as potential users??? Need to consider this potential in the cases when survivors do want to seek out legal action
  • that can be made public enough to become easily reached by people who have not yet experienced any violence or who are traveling during their experience of violence.
    • How to market product/resource - what helps a resource reach people? Might be for next year…

Concept Statement Group Workshop

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ffBqK_YT1FLG6yJ0qzXBhqYXSsv8J1jwFTglJzVEhrE/edit?usp=drive_web

This was the in class workshop I completed with two other group members to get feedback on my concept statement and where my project might be headed

Workshop Reflection