When nursing, science and the legal system intersect, USD nursing students are at the ready
by Mary McHugh, Brand Ave. Studios contributing writer
Forensic nursing is not for the weak of heart. But when it comes to victims of domestic violence, sexual abuse and rape, a nurse is more often than not the frontline caregiver. His or her coping skills are essential for working across multiple disciplines, including law enforcement, social work, behavioral health and medicine, in order to make evidence-based assessments that will have long-term effects on the patient’s care and healing.
Susan Strobel, whose background and accolades put her at the intersection of epidemiology, preventive medicine, advanced public health and nursing, understands the importance of creating nursing leaders who have the ability to navigate the multiple layers of the health care system. Strobel, who is an assistant professor at the University of South Dakota’s Department of Nursing, is continually researching societal and population health trends that warrant a call-out in terms of training.
Higher levels of leadership
As nurses continue to take on increased responsibility within the realm of patient care, their leadership and communication skills become essential, she said. In terms of working with patients of abuse, these skills become even more critical.
“A robust inquiry system is imperative within a health department,” Strobel said. “Because nurses now find themselves at the center of care with a patient, their role as coordinator continues to grow, which requires a higher level of leadership. We want our nurses to be prepared so they can meet the needs of the population and to do that, our curriculum needs to be nimble enough to reflect societal changes.”
Forensic nursing encourages nurses to dig deeper, find solutions
In terms of abuse, Strobel felt it imperative to create a class that blended the worlds of nursing, science and the legal system. In collaboration with the Center for the Prevention of Child Maltreatment, which is associated with USD’s School of Health Sciences, Strobel developed a 10-hour forensic nursing class module for senior students that provides high-level information on adverse childhood events and how they play a role in abuse, neural brain biology, and the resulting epidemiological fallout that affects communities. Because of the heavy nature of the content, there is also a section on self-care.
Introduced this past fall, the class also includes information, exercises and quizzes on how to build a caring relationship with a patient based first on trust, as well as how to utilize evidence-based inquiry to further understand the abuse a victim is experiencing. Response to the class has been overwhelmingly supportive, with students requesting more information on the topic be included earlier in their education. To that end, efforts are now being made to imbed some of the topics into existing curriculum content. Strobel also hopes to add a section to teach students how to assess the aftermath of the pandemic and its effect on domestic abuse.
Strobel said educating the students in such cutting-edge education is part of the program’s effort to create future leaders in the health care system. In fact, mandatory classes in leadership and scholarship are part of the ever-evolving USD curriculum. A new doctoral program started earlier this year focuses on nursing practice, systems and organizational leadership.
“Our goal is to graduate nurses who will strive to always instill scientific inquiry, using their skills to find out why things happened, how they happen and to always be searching for better evidence,” she said. “We need to dig deeper into problems and issues and find solutions that can be shared with everyone on the team.”
For patients, including victims of abuse, these solutions will translate to better access and improved care — something Strobel will be most proud of.