When a Child Is Found Dead: The Role of the Forensic Nurse Death Investigator and Psychosocial Impact for Parents

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

10-1-2020

Publication Title

Journal of Forensic Nursing

Volume

16

Issue

4

First page number:

240

Last page number:

243

Abstract

© Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. The traumatic death of a child is an immediately life-changing event. In all cases, a parent who finds that their child has died suddenly and violently is no longer the same person. Early in the chaotic aftermath of this journey, they will likely be disoriented and affectively numb because their sense of an otherwise predicted life trajectory has been destroyed in an instant. Subsequently, early in the arrival of the forensic nurse death investigator, there will be multidimensional challenges to be strategically navigated during scene investigation while simultaneously ensuring awareness of psychosocial issues that will have an enduring impact on an adaptive trajectory of bereavement for a surviving parent.

Keywords

Bereavement; Complicated grief; Forensic nurse death investigation; Sudden death; Traumatic death

Disciplines

Forensic Science and Technology | Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing

Language

English

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