GFN-C Exam Format | GFN-C Course Contents | GFN-C Course Outline | GFN-C Exam Syllabus | GFN-C Exam Objectives

- Constitutional foundations (e.g., rights guaranteed to citizens).
- Court systems (criminal and civil).
- Legal systems primer and steps in the criminal justice process.
- Testimony and witnesses (including expert witness testimony).
- Victim rights.
- Federal legislation, statutes of interest, and regulatory standards.
- Mandatory reporting laws (federal concepts and intent).
- Federal Rules of Evidence and Supreme Court decisions of interest.
- Accrediting bodies and nursing practice regulations.
- Privileged communication, hearsay evidence, legal precedents.
- Justice in the legal system.
- Roles in proceedings (e.g., testifying in criminal/civil cases).
- Evidence management (identification, collection, procurement, packaging, transfer, storage, disposal).
- Chain of custody (documented record of handling and transfer).
- Evidence preservation and life cycle in the forensic nurse-patient relationship.
- DNA evidence (concepts and intent; rapid DNA resources).
- Toxicology (concepts and intent).
- Locard’s Exchange Principle.
- Concepts in forensic science and evolution of forensic nursing.
- Forensic science in court (admissibility, presentation).
- Evidence packaging and storage.
- Trace evidence and related principles.
- Digital imaging technologies (e.g., for injury documentation).
- Identification of knowledge gaps in forensic science application
- Forensic nursing theory (including Lynch’s Conceptual Framework and Theoretical Framework, 1991).
- Scope and standards of forensic nursing practice.
- Assessment skills (e.g., physical assessment: inspection as the initial step; head-to-toe exam; documentation of injuries such as ecchymosis, wounds).
- Trauma-informed care (person-centered, holistic, respectful, compassionate, developmentally appropriate).
- Skills for forensic nursing (interviewing; science of stress).
- Skin & wounds; wounds & healing (forensic aspects of injury documentation and timing).
- Criminology and victimology.
- Population health and forensic populations (vulnerable populations across the lifespan; equitable outcomes for those intersecting with legal systems).
- Mental health & vulnerable populations.
- Health care referral and follow-up (e.g., home healthcare, physical therapy, substance abuse counseling).
- Evidentiary examination.
- Interprofessional collaboration and systems-based practice.
- Quality and safety in forensic settings.
- Forensic nursing scholarship (generation, synthesis, translation, dissemination of knowledge).
- Professionalism, lifelong learning, leadership, and resilience (e.g., addressing compassion fatigue, moral distress, burnout).
- Informatics and technology in forensic contexts (e.g., telehealth).
- Response to violence, trauma, injury, abuse, neglect, exploitation across settings.

1. Trauma and Violence Across the Lifespan
- Types of violence and trauma: Intentional vs. unintentional injury; physical abuse, sexual violence/assault, intimate partner violence (IPV/domestic violence), child abuse/neglect, elder abuse/neglect, psychological/emotional abuse, strangulation, human trafficking (labor and sex), exploitation, and non-accidental trauma.
- Lifespan considerations: Pediatric (infants, children, adolescents), adult, geriatric, and special/vulnerable populations (e.g., LGBTQ+, disabled individuals, immigrants, incarcerated persons).
- Neurophysiology and responses to trauma: Acute and chronic stress responses, trauma-informed responses, victim/perpetrator dynamics, and long-term health sequelae (physical, mental, behavioral).
- Patterns of injury: Mechanisms of injury, timing/aging of wounds/bruises (ecchymosis), defensive wounds, and differentiation from accidental injury or disease processes.
- Population health impacts: Health disparities, equitable outcomes, and intersection with social determinants of health for forensic populations.

2. Ethical Dilemmas in Forensic Contexts
- Core ethical principles: Autonomy, beneficence, non-maleficence, justice, and fidelity applied to forensic settings.
- Key issues: Informed consent vs. implied consent in emergencies; confidentiality and limits (e.g., when it must be breached for safety or legal reasons); privacy vs. evidence collection; dual roles (care provider and evidence collector); conflicts of interest (e.g., working with law enforcement or in correctional settings).
- Decision-making frameworks: Ethical decision models in trauma-informed care, managing moral distress, and professional boundaries.
- Documentation-related ethics: Accurate, objective, non-judgmental charting; avoiding speculation while supporting legal admissibility.

3. Documentation and Photography of Injuries
- Forensic documentation principles: Objective language, use of body diagrams/maps, chronological recording, and integration with the medical record.
- Injury-specific documentation: Description of wounds (type, location, size, color, shape, depth), ecchymosis (bruising) assessment and aging, anogenital trauma findings, patterned injuries (e.g., bite marks, ligature marks), and defensive vs. offensive wounds.
- Photography standards: Use of digital imaging technologies; rules for forensic photography (e.g., scale, orientation, multiple views, consent considerations); storage and chain of custody for images; best practices for injury, scene, or evidence photography.
- Tools and techniques: Head-to-toe systematic assessment (starting with inspection), colposcopy or alternative light sources when applicable, and telehealth considerations for remote documentation.

4. Multidisciplinary Team Roles and Collaboration
- Team members and roles: Collaboration with law enforcement, attorneys/prosecutors, child protective services, adult protective services, victim advocates, social workers, mental health professionals, toxicologists, forensic pathologists, and community agencies.
- Systems-based practice: Coordinating care across healthcare, legal, and social service systems; participating in multidisciplinary teams (e.g., SART/Sexual Assault Response Team, fatality review teams, human trafficking task forces).
- Communication and handoff: Effective information sharing while maintaining chain of custody and confidentiality; roles in case review and quality improvement.
- Referral and follow-up: Linking patients to resources such as home healthcare, physical therapy, substance abuse counseling, mental health services, support groups, and safety planning.

5. Evidence-Based Practice and Current National Resources
- Integration of evidence: Applying research, guidelines, and best practices from organizations like the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN), National Institute of Justice (NIJ), Department of Justice (DOJ), CDC, NIST (forensic science standards), and others.
- Scholarship elements: Generation, synthesis, translation, and dissemination of forensic nursing knowledge at the generalist level.
- Quality and safety: Identifying knowledge gaps, participating in performance improvement, and ensuring patient safety in forensic examinations.
- Emerging topics: Updates on digital imaging, telehealth in forensic care, rapid DNA technologies (concepts), and evolving research on trauma, trafficking, and vulnerable populations.