When a Child Is Found Dead: The Role of the Forensic Nurse Death Investigator and Psychosocial Impact for Parents

Abstract

The traumatic death of a child is an immediately life-changing event. In all cases, a parent who finds that their child has died suddenly and violently is no longer the same person. Early in the chaotic aftermath of this journey, they will likely be disoriented and affectively numb because their sense of an otherwise predicted life trajectory has been destroyed in an instant. Subsequently, early in the arrival of the forensic nurse death investigator, there will be multidimensional challenges to be strategically navigated during scene investigation while simultaneously ensuring awareness of psychosocial issues that will have an enduring impact on an adaptive trajectory of bereavement for a surviving parent.