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Hello all! My name is Traci and I live near Hershey, PA.  I am currently a maternity nurse but I hope to be moving into clinical research.  I would like to work in clinical trials, but any type of clinical research will do to start.  I am currently in the MSN: Clinical Trials Nursing program at Drexel, and this is my 2nd to last term before my practicum.

I don’t have any experience working with victims, or in forensics, but I find it a really interesting topic.  I have a coworker who took this class and really enjoyed it.  She said it was very interesting.  As far as what I hope to get out of it, just general knowledge.  I like to learn new things.

I am married and have a 16-year-old daughter.  We adopted her from China when she was 13 months old, which involved a trip to China.  China is an amazing country, and we took a trip back when Kailey was 10 so she could see the country of her birth.  In my spare time (which is almost laughable at this point) I like to read and knit.  I also love kayaking, cooking, photography, and travel.

I look forward to learning with all of you this term!

This is a picture from our trip to Alaska this past summer. (My daughter is the one on the right)

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Hello, everyone. My name is Melissa and I am currently geographically located in southeast Virginia. I wanted to take this course after a presenter at my hospital’s nursing orientation piqued my interest in the work SANEs do. As an OR nurse, I have cared for victims with orbital fractures resulting from road rage incidents, women seeking elective termination after sexual assault, and patients who had been shot or stabbed, among others. I do not have a lot of experience with forensics, though I have been part of the chain of custody when we’ve surgically removed metal projectiles. I am excited about this course and would like to achieve a basic understanding of forensics so that I can further clarify where I want my career to go. One of the things I love about nursing is that there are so many modes of professional expression. Outside of work, I am married with three children. I enjoy yoga and playing with my car.

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I am Rachel. I live in beautiful South Georgia Beach- St Simons Island. I am working at a psych facility there as the Director of Nursing, overseeing three different populations of mentally ill patients- adolescents, substance abusers and true adult psychiatric patients. I am in the psych NP program, because psychiatric nursing choose me.

I love everything to do with forensics and piecing a crime together. I have no experience of any kind with crime scene investigation but I watch a lot of shows like "Snapped" and documentaries about serial killers.  I am amazed by how a human being can murder another for something as trivial as money or jealousy. I often wonder how the mind of these people can completely shut down the idea that they are removing the very soul from the person they are killing and then try to cover it all up. But they never get away with it.

I am married with three children, two adult children 23 and 22, and a 14 year old step son. My world is made happy by my two dogs- Guinness and Gretchen. Always happy to see me when I get home and ready for cuddles. The picture is of them cuddling with each other.

I am originally from Chicago (38 years). spent 6 years in Wilmington, NC, 3 years in the Atlanta area and now at the southern GA beaches.
I am so excited to be taking this class.

Rachel

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Hello all, my name is Michelle and I live in the lovely New Jersey.  I am presently in the Adult Acute Care NP program.  I currently work at a large teaching hospital in central NJ in the CCU.  I have been a nurse going on 11 years.  I decided to take this class because forensics looks cool on TV (lol) and I wanted to see what it was all about.  I never knew there was a roll for nursing in forensics, so I look forward to the things I am going to learn. 

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Hello all, my name is Michelle and I live in the lovely New Jersey.  I am presently in the Adult Acute Care NP program.  I currently work at a large teaching hospital in central NJ in the CCU.  I have been a nurse going on 11 years.  I decided to take this class because forensics looks cool on TV (lol) and I wanted to see what it was all about.  I never knew there was a roll for nursing in forensics, so I look forward to the things I am going to learn. 

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I am married, have two grown children, one in PA and one in GA.  I am a diehard Georgia Bulldog fan. I have two cats, one of which is new to the family and having trouble adjusting.  I am originally from Nashville TN and hope to move back there sometime in the near future.  Good luck to everyone in the class.  I have no doubt it will be enlightening.

This is my adorable Nala (original kitty)

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Hi Everyone,

My name is Michele and I live in Baltimore, MD. As a Perinatal RN, I’ve cared for patients who unfortunately have been victims of interpersonal violence and sexual assault. I hope to gain a better understanding of what Forensic Science entails, improve my assessment skills, and learn how I can be of service to future patients or any individual that I may encounter who has experienced any form of interpersonal violence or crime.

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Hi everyone! My name is Danielle McGinty and I am in my second year of the Pediatric Primary
Care NP program. I currently work in the CICU at Boston Children's Hospital where I've been a nurse for 6 years.  Last year, my husband and I moved from Boston to just north of the city, which has been great; and we recently got our first dog, Greta!

As a nurse, we're constantly working with patients and family members who have been victims of violence or domestic abuse.  I felt that taking this course would assist me in improving my skills surrounding what is often such a sensitive topic and help me to better support the patients and families I work with that may be facing such difficulties.  In addition, as nurses, we can also fall victim to interpersonal bullying and violence in the workplace.  My hope is that at the conclusion of this course I am able to take away teaching points that I can bring to my place of work in order to help minimize incidences of bullying and violence.

I am truly looking forward to a great semester with all of you!

Danielle

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My name is James DiIorio and I live in Yardley, Pennsylvania with my wife of 30 years.  I have 2 grown sons, one a physical therapist and another in graduate school for exercise science.  My wife and I love to travel and hike and last year’s big trip was visiting Ireland.  We are both kept very busy by our 2-year-old Border Collie Sophie.

I have been in nursing for 28 years now with most of these years spent in the Emergency Department.  Through my years in the ED, I have cared for many victims of violence, the perpetrators that have caused the violence and the police officers involved in arresting the perpetrators.  I have also been involved in collecting evidence for the police officers investigating the crimes including collecting blood, preserving evidence from victims and assisting the victims safe return home.  Prior to my nursing career, I spent many years in the volunteer fire service and Emergency Medical Service as a Paramedic, working side by side with police officers in dealing with violence, crime scenes, and preservation of evidence.  Forensics has always interested me as it directly relates to many areas of the emergency department.  I would like to learn much more about the forensic sciences and the possibility of career selections in this field.

Best of luck to all for a great semester.

Below Sophie and I and my wife out for a hike in a local park.

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Hi All! My name is Sarah Aledia and I am coming to everyone from the triangle area of North Carolina (sorry Dr. C!) and currently work at UNC as a float nurse. I work in numerous departments such as burns, medicine, women’s health, and oncology but have a significant (4.5 year) background in step-down surgical/trauma nursing at UNC. I took another one of Dr. C’s courses back in the summer and I loved every minute of it and it encouraged me to take another this time around.

Working in a large academic medical center, I see a wide variety of patients being admitted from head-on MVCs to suspected elder abuse so violence is a prominent topic for me. I personally have no experience with forensic violence but am always intrigued with the TV shows and hot topics within the medical field. I would love just a better understanding of some of these topics to help me become a better, more well-rounded practitioner for my patients.

I have lived down here in the tarheel state for over 4 years but just recently got married to my husband back in April of last year and are now expecting a new little girl to the family at the end of February! We love to travel and cook/eat and enjoy spending time with our pup but I’m sure all that will change in a few short weeks! I look forward to an informative and fun class with you all and good luck to everyone!

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Greetings to one and all and welcome to NURS 519: Forensic Science. I live in Asheville, North Carolina and about to celebrate my 11th anniversary of working at Drexel as a full-time geographically remote faculty member. Winter has definitely arrived in the Great Smokey Mountains and I often walk my dog, Smoke, in the woods, and enjoy the fresh air and all of the sights, sounds, and critters that are all a part of the local nature . I am looking forward to a very exciting quarter and hope to share my more than 35 years' experience in a variety of clinical forensic roles and facilities. I am also the Chair for the Forensic Trends in Healthcare Certificate Program Online at Drexel (any three of the 4 offered forensic courses comprise the CERTIFICATE) and the NEWLY established Forensic  Healthcare MINOR (all  4 of 4 courses [a  forensic Health Law course has been added] comprise the minor that would go along with your major degree of study). If you are interested in either of these, be sure to contact your Academic Advisor. One example of my clinical forensic work includes this photo of a trip to Bolivia in 2011 with a team from Drexel CNHP. Since I am a forensic practitioner, my role was to work with psychologists, prosecutors and judges regarding enhanced assessment of children exposed to sexual violence.  Here I am working with children in the school room of their Domestic Violence Shelter/compound (located at over 12 thousand feet in the Andes mountain range!). I got to meet quite a few alpaca during that time  :-) I look forward to learning more about each of you here in the Introductions Padlet and to working with you throughout the Fall quarter. I will "see" you in class  - - - Dr. C

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Greetings from Westchester County, New York!

Have never had a personal visit from a bear in the backyard, though there have been bear and moose sightings in the area.

Don’t have experience working with victims/survivors or forensic science.  Volunteer working with elementary school children.  As a volunteer we receive training to prevent abuse of minors and consent to background checks.  The children receive annual training from our director as part of the Safe Environment Program.

Why take a class in forensic science?  It has been said that the secret to a good offence is a good defense.  A class that covers bioterrorism, cybersecurity, and other topics helps us to be more vigilant.  I’ve taken women’s defense classes, why not a forensic science class?

Got hooked on Nancy Drew at an early age, moved on to Agatha Christie…Linda Fairstein is one of my favorite authors.  Watch fictional crime shows CSI, Law & Order, SVU… as well as true crime stories.

Lindie - thank you so much for your service.  Your experiences will certainly add a unique perspective in this class.
Irina - have worked with nurses who have also participated in medical missions to Haiti, and they said it was an amazing and humbling experience.

This is Kieran!

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My name is Irina and I reside in the Philadelphia area. I graduated from a diploma program in 2012 and received my BSN in 2015 from Drexel University. I currently work in the perioperative division of a trauma one hospital. On my spare time I love to run with my golden retriever, travel, and spend time with friends and family. As nurses, we have a valuable set of skills that are greatly beneficial to patients and families worldwide. Therefore, when my schedule permits, I like to provide my services as a medical missionary in developing countries. In 2016, I fulfilled my first medical mission trip in Peru as a recovery nurse, and in November of 2017 I practiced as primary care triage nurse in Haiti. During these life changing mission trips I realized I truly do want to further my education. For that reason I decided to go into the family nurse practitioner route, where I can continue to improve my medical nursing skills and thought processes to better provide the best care for my patients and families. I am enthusiastic about the course we are about to embark upon and am eager to further develop the abilities to appropriately evaluate and care for victims of assault, domestic abuse, child and elder abuse, neglect, and other unfortunate crimes. Here is a picture of my little patient in Haiti (picture was taken with permission).

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Hi, I’m Lindie and I live in Bluffton South Carolina (right across the bridge from Hilton Head). I retired from the Army in March after 33 years and wanted to advance my career. I am an ACNP and now enrolled in the FNP program. I am married and have three children aged 8, 9, 11. I have a cat that rules the house. I am starting a new job on Monday to keep my skills up and because I miss working. Never thought I would say that. I have been a nurse for over 35 years and an NP for 18 years.
In the military I worked in many different areas from ED, ICU, Inspector General, deployed 8 times and taught humanitarian missions and conducted some investigations throughout my career. I am looking forward to taking this course and learning more about forensic science.

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Hello, my name is Danielle, and I live in Cape May Court House, NJ with my husband, 14-year-old daughter, cat, and two dogs. I have been an ER nurse for 16 years, with experience in ICU and EMS as well. In addition to my ER job, I teach nursing students, medical students, residents, nurses, paramedics, and EMTs as adjunct faculty for a couple different colleges and a non-profit organization. I volunteer for the Emergency Nurses Association as my local chapter Treasurer, the NJ State Pediatric Committee Chairperson, a course director for pediatric and trauma courses, and a delegate to their annual conference.

I was interested in taking this course because I deal with A LOT of victims and perpetrators in my job as an ER nurse. Knowing more about them can help me to provide better care and to protect myself better. It will also help me in my teaching positions, as students sometimes have questions about why people do some of the things they do to other people (especially in trauma, IPV, or child abuse lectures). I have always enjoyed forensic science-type books and television shows, so classes like this are interesting to me. I look forward to learning more.