Forensic nurses are a new breed of nurses that act as medical detectives in today's crime ridden world. They are medical professionals who have received special training in forensic sciences and work for the law to help in criminal investigations. They work in different departments like sexual assault nurse examiner, emergency room examiner, medico-legal consultant, medico-legal death examiner, psychiatric treatment of criminals and so on.



Forensic nurses working in different departments make different salaries. Forensic nurses make more salary than ordinary nurses. This is because of their more specific training and higher education. Their job also involves more responsibility and risk taking. Apart from that forensic nurses are also available on call which makes their work hours odd and inconvenient. Therefore they are paid more. Emergency room examiners have to be present in the emergency room always. If they are employed by the hospital they get paid a fixed salary. But if they are working on hourly basis or per case basis then they are paid differently. They can be paid anything around 1 - 4 dollars per hour of their service. They can also be paid per case basis. A sexual assault nurse examiner is paid one and a half times more than their basic salary.

These are however not the universal rates. Forensic nurse salary differs from place to place. At some places forensic nurses are paid from twenty six dollars per hour to one hundred dollars per hour. A forensic nurse working in a big city may get paid much more than one operating from a rural setting. Again a nurse with more work experience earns considerably more than one with less experience. Forensic nursing is also a job that tests your intelligence and judgment. A forensic nurse gets paid in accordance with her ability to work. You will be hired by better employers if you prove your ability in working.

As said above there is no universal salary for forensic nurses. There are talks going on about forming a regulatory committee for regularizing the salary of forensic nurses. Until that happens, forensic nurses will be paid in accordance with the convenience of the employers and the employed. Experienced forensic nurses often start their own consultancies. They provide medico legal advice to victims and their families. Such forensic nurse consultants earn more than one hundred and fifty dollars per hour. Depending on their name and ability they may earn much more.

Forensic nursing is an emerging field. Currently there are 7500 forensic nurses employed in the US and are doing an excellent job. The judicial system has woken up to the need of having more and more forensic nurses employed in various branches across the United States. There will be many more vacancies for forensic nurses in the years to come and as their importance increases their payments will also increase. Forensic nurses have a bright future ahead. So if you are planning to become a nurse or if you are a nurse then you could think of forensic nursing as a career option.