Copyright © 2020 Society of Trauma Nurses. Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited. 58 WWW.JOURNALOFTRAUMANURSING.COM Volume 27 | Number 1 | January-February 2020 RESEARCH V iolence promotes negative changes in the epide- miological profile of a population and harms both individuals and society as a whole. There are many forms of violence, and it is seen as a major pub- lic health problem (Garcia & Silva, 2018). Violence can be promoted by factors that favor its emergence and maintenance, such as cultural differences, globalization, interpersonal relations, socioeconomic factors, and envi- ronmental changes, among others. It directly affects indi- viduals emotionally, physically, and economically, and it also has great financial costs. Violence is not just restricted to urban areas, it also occurs in rural areas (Vieira, 2016). Nurses working in prehospital and emergency settings are on the front line of providing health care to those af- fected by violence. This care not only includes physical and emotional support but also includes forensic skills such as the responsibility to preserve, collect, document, and store evidence left by the perpetrator that may impact the investigation (Ministério da Saúde, Departamento de Vigilância de Doenças e Agravos não Transmissíveis e Promoção da Saúde, 2013). Prehospital care nurses are often the first to arrive even before the police and other services. The preservation of the place where the victim was found, as a crime scene, is the first step to guar- antee the integrity of important evidence (Silva, 2010). Crime scenes often contain biological and nonbiological artifacts of physical evidence such as hairs, fibers, glass, blood, and skin. The evidence is fundamental to criminal investigations and must be preserved (Silva, 2010). The record of the collection, control, transfer, and analysis of forensic evidence is known as the chain of custody and must be rigorously followed because any failure during this process can lead to the failure of the investigation. However, few nurses historically have received training in evidence collection as part of a standard nursing curricu- lum or continuing education program (Kent-Wilkinson, 2011). This study aimed to correlate nurses’ knowledge with the execution of procedures related to forensic evi- dence collection. ABSTRACT Violence is a growing public health problem worldwide. Nurses increasingly must perform forensic procedures with the responsibility to collect, document, preserve, and store evidence that may be used in the investigation of a violent crime. However, few nurses receive education in forensic evidence collection as part of their training. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between nurses’ knowledge and performance of forensic evidence procedures. This is a descriptive survey study of nurses working in a prehospital emergency care service in Aracaju, Brazil. A 32-question survey related to forensic evidence knowledge and procedures was completed by 128 nurses. Descriptive statistics and Kendall’s Tau-b were used to describe the sample and evaluate correlations. Results revealed an overall linear relationship between knowledge and performance of forensic evidence procedures (r = .69). The strongest correlation was between knowledge and documentation (r = .71). Weaker correlations were demonstrated between knowledge and evidence collection (r = .47), evidence preservation (r = .47), and overall evidence procedure execution (r = .53). Forensic nursing knowledge is related to forensic evidence procedure performance. Although the study showed that nurses agreed forensic evidence procedures are important for criminal investigations, most reported they were unprepared to carry out these procedures. The need for additional training and adherence to established institutional protocols are identified as contributing factors. Key Words Crime scene, Forensic evidence, Nurses Author Affiliations: Department of Nursing, Tiradentes University, Aracaju, Sergipe, Brazil (Mss Silva and dos Santos, Mr L. F. S. Santos, and Drs da Silva and de Melo); and Department of Nursing, Federal University of Alagoas, Arapiraca, Alagoas, Brazil (Dr V. S. Santos). Author Contributions: Conceived and designed the work: J.O.M.S., V.S.S., and C.M.M; analyzed and interpreted the data: J.O.M.S., D.P.S., V.S.S., and C.M.M; collected data: L.F.S.S. and S.M.S.; wrote the manuscript or part of the manuscript: J.O.M.S., L.F.S.S., S.M.S., and D.P.S.; revised the manuscript to make important changes in content: V.S.S. and C.M.M. All authors approved the final version of the manuscript. The authors have no conflict of interest to declare. Correspondence: Juliana O. M. Silva, MPH, Department of Nursing, Universidade Tiradentes, Av. Murilo Dantas, Bairro Farolândia, Aracaju 49030, Sergipe, Brazil (julimusse@hotmail.com). Preservation of Forensic Evidence by Nurses in a Prehospital Emergency Care Service in Brazil Juliana O. M. Silva, MPH ■ Luiz F. S. Santos, RN ■ Suelen M. dos Santos, RN ■ Denison P. da Silva, PhD ■ Victor S. Santos, PhD ■ Claudia M. de Melo, PhD DOI: 10.1097/JTN.0000000000000483