- International Fees
International fees are typically 3.25 times the domestic tuition. Exact cost will be calculated upon completion of registration.
Course Overview
This course is intended for nurses interested in the role of a forensic nurse death investigator, or positions in hospital risk management, patient safety and quality improvement. This course will prepare students to apply the legal and scientific principles underlying the methods used in the investigation of death in in both clinical and community settings. Students will learn that causation in death investigation is something that is determined not observed. Students will analyze competing causal factors and apply forensic principles to arrive at accurate and reliable determinations that meet the scrutiny of medicolegal cases.
Prerequisite(s)
- 60% in FSCT 7810
Credits
3.0
Domestic fees
$831.64
Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Examine the role of coroner and medical examiner systems and their legal authority in death investigation.
- Compare and contrast the various classifications of death.
- Differentiate between cause and mechanism of death.
- Evaluate the nursing process and how it applies to death investigation
- Explain the process in planned home deaths and how complications can arise.
- Investigate the interrelationship between medical misadventures, risk management, patient safety and quality improvement and clinical death investigations.
- Differentiate the steps required for a successful death investigation, in both clinical and community settings from initial reporting to the scene, documentation, investigation, chain of custody and final body disposition.
- Assess post-mortem changes in the body and their relationship to the variables of time of death and describe body positional factors that might affect investigative pathways.
- Evaluate the potential for applying the death investigation skill set in non-traditional settings such as occupational health and safety, public health, disaster response and others..
- Contrast the difference between clinical and forensic autopsies and their relationship to causation.
- Analyze the nuances of the process of infant versus adult death investigation.
- Discuss the importance of collaboration with a multitude of other agencies in death investigations.
- Compare and contrast criminal and quasi-judicial proceedings such as a Coroners Inquest.
Effective as of Fall 2022
Related Programs
Clinical and Community Death Investigation (XFSC 7835) is offered as a part of the following programs:
- Indicates programs accepting international students.
School of Computing and Academic Studies
- Forensic Nurse Death Investigator
Microcredential Part-time
Course Offerings
Spring/Summer 2026
Below is one offering of XFSC 7835 for the Spring/Summer 2026 term.
CRN 68785
Dates
Jun 08 - Aug 14 Loading
- CRN 68785
- $831.64 Domestic fees
Class meeting times
| Dates | Days | Times | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 08 - Aug 14 | N/A | N/A | Online |
Duration
10 weeks
Instructor
Colin Harris
Course outline
Course outline TBD — see Learning Outcomes in the interim.
Important information
- Departmental approval needed
- Important course information will be sent to you prior to your course start date. Check your myBCIT email account to access this information.
- International fees are typically 3.25 times the domestic tuition. Exact cost will be calculated upon completion of registration.
- Students MUST receive a min. 60% in FSCT 7810 before taking this course. This is an ONLINE, asynchronous course, however, it is not self-paced. There will be specific deadlines for assignments, discussion postings and quizzes. Course content will be in the form of recorded presentations and some reading material each module. There will be weekly interactive discussions and a short quiz each module. You will also have a mid-term and a final assignment to complete. On the start date of your class (not before), log into learn.bcit.ca to access your course link. There is no required textbook. Please contact BCIT_Forensics@bcit.ca with your student number (A0#) for departmental approval to register.
Status
Programs and courses are subject to change without notice.