title: Her Majesty's coroners and home office forensic pathologists perception of the nurses' role in the coroner's enquiry.
abstract: A study was performed to elicit the perceived role of the registered nurse in the coroner's enquiry from Her Majesty's coroners and Home Office forensic pathologists viewpoint. A qualitative small sample study of unstructured interviews was performed followed by a quantitative and qualitative survey of all 134 coroners and 44 forensic pathologists practising in England and Wales. 72 (53.5%) coroners and 26 (59.1%) forensic pathologists finally participated in the study of which 51% perceived that there was a role for the nurse in the coroner's enquiry. Roles identified included: actual i. e. keeping records, being conversant with nursing policies and "knowing" ("Knowing" means having knowledge about coroners' enquiries); potential i.e. resource provider, communicator, supporter, presencing, evidence giver and stewardship; and future i. e. certifying the fact of death and being an expert witness. Possible action by the registered nurse to embrace the outcome of this study is put forward.
authors.affiliation: School of Health Studies (Nursing Division), University of Bradford, Unity Building, 25 Trinity Road, Bradford, UK.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Rutty
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001344:Autopsy; D002423:Cause of Death; D003334:Coroners and Medical Examiners; D003644:Death Certificates; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D005568:Forms and Records Control; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009729:Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D019555:Physician-Nurse Relations; D012380:Role; D014852:Wales