Course Description

Child deaths are traumatizing for anyone involved. But when that death is a sudden unexpected child death resulting from an accident, suicide, or homicide, an investigation takes place to determine what may have led to the death of the child. There are many disciplines that are involved in child death investigations — and when the experts in each of these disciplines come together to collaborate, outcomes are significantly improved. Forensic providers are uniquely trained to provide valuable contributions to this team. Injury identification, medical records/autopsies review, parent/patient behavior observation, photo documentation, and understanding trauma and the body's physiological response to trauma all allow the forensic provider to contribute to the investigation. Additionally, utilizing the lessons learned from sudden unexpected child deaths allows the medical community to develop policy and procedure to help prevent these types of deaths.

OBJECTIVES

  • Describe the role of medical forensic providers in child death investigations and how they interact with other multidisciplinary team members
  • Describe injuries and how they relate to explaining abusive acts and deaths
  • Utilize current skills as a forensic provider to assist in the medicolegal investigation and prevention

PRESENTER 

Allyson Cordoni is a nurse practitioner with more than 25 years of experience providing care to adults and children who have experienced sexual/physical violence. She has served as forensic nurse consultant, specializing in issues related to sexual assault adult and children, child abuse and neglect, strangulation, domestic violence, and development of policies and procedures — as well as educational trainings. She previously served as the Sexual Assault Advisor to the Air Force Surgeon General and is an associate for the National Criminal Justice Training Center. She has been a member of the U.S. Army Medical Command (MEDCOM) task force responsible for writing/implementing sexual assault policies for the U.S. Army; authored a shaken baby bill for the State of Hawaii; presented at numerous international, national, and local conferences; authored several peer-reviewed articles; participated in numerous MDT boards; and is currently the Defense Health Agency Indo-Pacific Region Forensic Healthcare Coordinator. Cordoni co-owned a wedding company and is a pastry chef, creating wedding cakes, desserts, cupcakes, and more.


Enduring Modules - This module originated on 08/12/202026 and will remain available for CE credit through 9/30/2026


Criteria for Successful Completion:

Live attendees must join the zoom link via the LMS site, be logged in for a minimum of 90% of the session, and successfully complete the attestation and evaluation. Upon completion, a CE certificate for 1.25 contact hours will be awarded. 

Recordings of the live session will be made available within one week of the live date. 

Asynchronous attendees must utilize the LMS to obtain resource information (if available), view 100% of recording(s), complete all modules, and successfully complete the attestation and evaluation. Upon completion, a CE certificate for 1.25 contact hours will be awarded.

No relevant financial relationships exist for any individuals in a position to control content of this educational activity.

NOTE:

The Academy of Forensic Nursing is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Pricing options

Watch this archived webinar on demand.