Because forensic nursing is a relatively new specialty in the medical field, it is continuously growing, changing, and evolving over time. Not only do forensic nurses have to consider themselves part of the medical system but the judicial system as well since they deal mainly with evidence collection for criminal cases. It can be difficult for practitioners to stay on top of what's going on in the field. So associations that promote forensic nursing like the International Forensic Nurses Association or the American Nurses Association try to assist their members in staying up to date by publishing forensic nursing journals.
The IAFN only has one official journal that is called simply the Journal of Forensic Nursing. It is a peer-reviewed journal that is distributed to its members on a quarterly basis. The goal for the journal is to share information about the practice of forensic nursing in order to advance the knowledge of its practitioners. A lot of the material in the journal is information about cases that forensic nurses are likely to come across and what the experienced forensic nurse should do. This is of great benefit to both new forensic nurses and those with more experience but that still want to further their knowledge of the field.
All manuscripts submitted to the journal are extensively corrected and reviewed by the board. The board is trying to determine if the information in the piece is accurate and if it will be sufficiently beneficial to the journal's readers. They want to publish a journal that members can refer to over and over again through their careers and refer back to the information they read. While the board has never made its requirements for publication known publicly, there are still some general guidelines that potential contributors should follow.
The first thing any writer should do is check the guidelines set forth by the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association. This will give standards for things like photographs, references, or tables. Adherence to these standards is highly recommended.
The articles submitted should also refer directly to the area of forensic nursing. Forensic nurses deal with patients who are victims of violent crime and the collecting of evidence for those crimes. They can also provide some counsel for those dealing with abuse or death related to violent crime as well. So the articles that are frequently in the journal deal with such topics as: domestic violence, sexual assault, abuse or neglect, human trafficking, forensic mental health, psychological abuse, nursing in correctional institutions, environmental disasters, illegal abortion, homicide cases, suspicious deaths, and articles relating to the IAFN.
Since this IAFN has members all over the world the articles in the journal need to reflect the experiences of the international forensic nursing community. They have set forth several goals for the publication of this journal and their organization in general. They wish to prevent violence as much as possible by assisting in the solving of crimes. To promote a network for sharing information about forensic nurses. Educate forensic nurses that are just beginning their careers. And to establish a code of ethics for forensic nurses to follow.
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