(Reposting in special interest group for strangulation just in case it can be seen here and not the other area)
Hello! I am a Graduate student through the Oakland University MSN Forensic Nursing Degree program. I am going to be starting my graduate project next semester (May 2022) and am doing a needs assessment project currently in which I am in search of a possible tool that could help me collect, correlate, and review data for strangulation cases at the agency I am working with. My project will be a two year strangulation case review for the specific agency in which we want to collect data in regards to signs and symptoms-both subjective and objective/seen and unseen, commonalities, and any legal, criminal implications that came from the cases. I am in the new stages of this as well so any and all suggestions of anything to include or not include, would be greatly appreciated as well! Before drafting my own documentation tool for the data, I wanted to reach out and see if anyone has seen or done anything like this in the past, or even currently doing so, that I could possibly use as well or even tailor to my own study. Thank you very much for any and all help! I greatly appreciate your time and consideration! Have a great day!
Great topic for a project since peer review and QI are pivotal to evaluating forensic healthcare outcomes. There are a number of well-developed Strangulation Evaluation tools that have been designed and applied to practice by expert forensic nurses. You might start with the Strangulation Institute as they regularly post tools that have been used in healthcare facilities. Dr. Sally Sturgeon (Kentucky) developed an excellent tool to evaluate NFS as part of her doctoral work. SDFI markets a SAFE-T kit (Strangulation Assessment & Forensic Evaluation Tool kit) that can assist HCP in the evaluation & evidentiary exam of patients who have been strangled & the kit contains links to some examples of documentation tools. Of course, before you develop a QI tool you will want to identify an evaluation/assessment form to use by HCP in your healthcare facility. Some Child Advocacy Centers are also using NFS assessment tools in the care of their pediatric patients seen for acute and non-acute evaluations. Another resource that contains NFS case reviews, examples of evaluation tools, and discharge instructions for the strangled patient population is the workbook published in 2020, Domestic Violence and Non-Fatal Strangulation Assessment. It might even be on the AFN website in the store for a member discount. Hope this helps for starters.
Hi Marisa,
Are you looking to develop an evaluation tool or strangulation assessment document for healthcare professionals to use in evaluating patients being seen post strangulation or a data collection tool for retrospective chart review?