TOLEDO — For someone who has just experienced violence, getting to a hospital can already be a difficult first step. Having to leave that hospital, travel somewhere else and tell the story all over again can make it even harder.
Mindy Lause, forensic nursing program manager at Mercy Health, and the health system are working to eliminate that barrier.
Mercy Health is expanding its forensic nursing program beyond Mercy Health – St. Vincent Medical Center in downtown Toledo, bringing specialized forensic nurses directly to patients at Mercy hospitals throughout northwest Ohio.
Forensic nurses care for patients who have experienced sexual assault, domestic violence, strangulation, human trafficking, child or elder abuse and other forms of violence.
“We’re nurses first,” Lause said. “Everything that we do, the patient experience and providing that holistic care for healing is always going to be our priority no matter what.”
Bringing the nurse to the patient
Mercy Health established its forensic nursing program at St. Vincent in 2022. And as the program grew, so did the number of patients who needed its services.
In 2025 alone, Mercy nurses conducted 648 forensic exams at St. Vincent. Lause said the increasing number doesn’t necessarily mean violence itself is becoming more common. Instead, she believes more people know the service exists and trust it enough to seek help.
“We are providing a reliable service to people on the worst days, and most vulnerable days of their life.”
Lause also began receiving calls to provide care at other Mercy hospitals in the area.
She quickly discovered that patients sometimes had to be transferred to St. Vincent for specialized forensic care, while others faced wait times of up to eight hours as staff tried to locate an available forensic nurse.
“We wanted that to end,” Lause said. “It’s a lot to have to show up and tell somebody, ‘Hey, I was strangled,’ or ‘I was sexually assaulted.’ But then to have to begin again at a new hospital with new staff and waiting those long times … that places a significant amount of stress and pressure on the patient.”
Lause wanted to flip that model: Bring the nurse to the patient.
That became possible through a $200,000 Health Impact Fund grant awarded in 2025, allowing the program to hire two additional full-time positions and expand its reach in 2026.
As a result, forensic nurses are based at St. Vincent and are now dispatched as needed to other Mercy facilities throughout northwest Ohio, including Seneca County.
“Being able to respond to those rural facilities in a timely manner really helps strengthen access to care,” she said.
Michelle Yeasting, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, who has worked in forensic nursing since 2008, said bringing that care directly to hospitals also removes practical barriers for patients who may not have a vehicle, money for gas or other resources needed to travel.
“We need to meet them where they are and when they show up,” Yeasting said.
Connecting with the patient during the most vulnerable time
A forensic exam can last anywhere from one to six hours, depending on the circumstances.
When the nurse first meets a patient, Lause said the initial conversation is intentionally brief. The nurse explains the process without immediately asking the patient to recount every detail.
From there, nurses can perform a head-to-toe assessment, document injuries, collect evidence when appropriate and use forensic photography. They can also connect patients with advocates, law enforcement and community resources.
“For me, it’s just about connecting with the person and really just seeing the person.”
“Because a lot of these times, these patients feel unseen, and one of the biggest things we do as forensic nurses is be a witness to their experience,” Lause said.
That approach carries through to the forensic nurses on Lause’s team.
“The first thing I want the patient to know is that I am an ally who is there to meet them where they are in that moment,” said Lauren Wright, MSN, RN, CEN, CCRN-CMC.
“I want them to know that I see them as a person, and that I am here because I believe them.”
During these vulnerable moments, patients are not automatically required to speak with law enforcement. Forensic nurses can explain their options, document what happened and preserve information that could become important if a patient later chooses to pursue legal action.
For Madalyn Schlosser, BSN, RN, a forensic nurse examiner, part of building that trust means making sure patients know those decisions remain theirs.
“I remind each patient that they have autonomy over themselves, their body and that they are in full control of what happens next throughout the forensics process,” Schlosser said.
“That helps build trust,” Lause said. “We’re here for them. More importantly, we’re here to care for them and their body and what happened to them.”
Yeasting added that the importance of that care is personal.
“My children and I are survivors of violence,” she said.
While her children were undergoing a medical forensic exam, they met a forensic nurse who Yeasting said changed her life.
“After we healed a little, I decided to attend nursing school to be a forensic nurse and give back what was given to me that day: trauma-informed care and complete understanding of what was happening to us,” she added.
“I try to do this with every patient I meet.”
Continuing to expand
Lause said the expansion is still evolving, with Mercy collecting data to better understand where patients are seeking forensic care and where additional resources may eventually be needed.
For her, though, the goal remains centered on the person who walks through the hospital doors.
“They’re not alone,” Lause said.
“We have highly educated staff that really just want to provide that care or build those bridges for them to begin the healing process; whatever that looks like for them.”
“We don’t know how this is going to end, but we’re here,” she added. “We’re provided the space to be here with them on their journey to healing.”
