This past Wednesday, March 16, our Fundamentals in Biomedical Sciences class was visited by senior Biomed student, Savannah Jeane. She spoke to us about the career that she was most interested in-Forensic Nursing.
Forensic nurses provide specialized care for patients who are experiencing acute and long term health consequences associated with victimization or violence, and/or have unmet evidentiary means relative to having been victimized or accused of victimization. Underneath the umbrella of Forensic Nurse, there are various subspecialties such as...
-Legal Nurse Consultants
-Correctional Nurse
-Nurse Coroner or Death Investigator
-Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)
We then began an activity to imitate the extraction of DNA from samples. This DNA is extracted from the victim and various other people related to the victim or the crime. Forensic nurses will assist in comparing these samples in order to identify the victim's abuser. For our activity, we extracted DNA from strawberries
We placed the strawberry in a plastic bag and smashed them up, quite aggressively
We put DNA extraction liquid in the bag then mixed the contents together
Next, we used a filter to pour the contents of the bag into a test tube while removing remaining strawberry chunks
We then added alcohol to our strawberry mixture using a 1:1 ratio.
Then, we close up our tube and shook rather aggressively, again
Finally, we were able to scoop out the DNA of the strawberry with a wooden stirrer.
Savannah's DNA experiment was fun, interactive, and fascinating! Forensic Nursing, though a new field, is an incredibly important job, and I was delighted to have been able to learn more about it.
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