QMU Establishes Ground-Breaking Forensic Nursing Course to Help People who have Experienced Rape and Sexual Assault
In 2021, QMU established a new forensic practice course for nurses, which aims to improve care in rape and sexual assault cases.
The course aims to build a multidisciplinary workforce for the future by equipping specialist nurses to carry out forensic medical examinations and provide evidence in court. The development supports the work of the Scottish Government’s Rape and Sexual Assault Taskforce.
Supported by the Scottish Government, the course is the first course of its kind in Scotland and is an outcome of four years of policy, strategy and partnership work to change forensic practice.
The qualification is supporting the development of advanced forensic practitioners in Scotland, who, as registered nurses, will be qualified to carry out forensic examinations and gather evidence to support criminal investigations and court cases.
Undertaking a forensic examination in sexual assault and rape cases requires the examiner to treat each person as an individual and take responsibility for that episode of care from start to finish. What is unique about this role is that the examination involves documenting and interpreting any injuries that the individual may have sustained at the time of the incident.
The examination team’s work also involves protecting the forensic integrity of the person, the treatment room and the case. They use hard science, clinical observation and the law to take responsibility for the case itself, as well as the individual. Anyone who has been raped or sexually assaulted, or hurt by crime, experiences trauma. It is therefore important that the examiner works to minimise the potential for further trauma and begin the process of supporting recovery.
The first forensic nurses trained at postgraduate level to help those who have experienced rape or sexual assault, graduated from QMU in 2022.
The institution was also delighted to see Jess Davidson, who established the QMU’s PgCert Advanced Forensic Nursing (Person-Centred Practice), at QMU, awarded an MBE in 2024, for her services to forensic nursing and victim support in Scotland.
As a trailblazer and one of the most experienced and respected senior clinical forensic charge nurses in Scotland, Jess worked alongside Police Scotland and NHS Scotland to coordinate a regional nurse-led service which greatly improved intervention and support for people who required medical and/or forensic attention.
