Many patients have passed through forensic nurse Cecilia Lamola's doors. But two cases in particular stand out for her: one was a rape victim, the second was a man who arrived at her rooms under police escort.
The two cases, months apart, ended up being connected by a DNA match. Lamola had taken DNA samples from both, and the forensic link was enough to convict the man not just of the rape of the woman, but dozens more crimes across Limpopo, ranging from murder to housebreaking.
"The DNA was a positive match. That man was part of a gang that terrorised people for years. I knew after that that forensics can make communities safer," said Lamola.
That was in 2014. Today she works for Doctors Without Borders in Rustenburg. One of her key roles is mentoring professional nurses, teaching them how to correctly gather DNA samples that will stand as evidence in court.
"Good forensics means someone may think twice before they rape a woman or abuse a child," she said. "Even if the victim can't speak for themselves, the DNA evidence can."
Forensic nurses have for years filled the evidence-collection role that district surgeons used to perform - essential in remote areas that don't see a doctor for months.
Lamola was among an early intake of forensic nurses at the University of the Free State in 2005. But more than a decade later bureaucracy and red tape have meant her specialisation is still not properly accredited.
"To train as a forensic nurse you have to take off a year to study. You work hard to get your specialisation, but then it's not accredited by the South African Nursing Council. You're not recognised, so you're not paid more. It means many professional nurses choose other specialisations, not forensics."
Professor Sinegugu Duma, dean of teaching and learning at the College of Health Sciences at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, was part of a team that pushed for the nursing council to recognise and accredit the specialisation of forensic nurses in 2012.
"In 2013 we formed the South African Forensic Nursing Association and went so far as to draw up the list of competencies. The council put these out for comment and adoption ... but they still they have not done the accreditation process or taken it up with the Department of Health, which is the correct procedure. So for nurses it means their employer [the Health Department] does not recognise them," she said.
The council's marketing and communications manager Adri van Eeden said at present no nursing education institutions were accredited to offer forensics. "There will be no retrospective registration of nurses who qualified as 'forensic nurses', which at the time was not recognised by SANC."
There were no SANC numbers to gauge the need for forensic nurses. When accreditation was finalised, nurses would be recognised as nurse specialists but Van Eeden could not say when this would happen.
Attempts to get comment from the Department of Health were unsuccessful.
Duma said universities were working to streamline their curriculums for forensic nursing training. "We know that today when a forensic nurse gives evidence in court the magistrate trusts that testimony; it's that crucial," she said. - Health-e News..