A nurse clinician's approach to knife crime prevention

This article outlines a new and creative contribution to knife crime prevention by an emergency nurse clinician and an initial evaluation of its effectiveness. The 'knife crime prevention programme' is delivered to young people aged 11-16 years by one of the authors, Rob Jackson, an emergency nurse clinician at Liverpool University Hospital; the aim is to educate young people about the medical consequences of knife injury. A group of 140 students and 17 teachers responded to a questionnaire evaluating the effectiveness of the session delivered to four schools in Liverpool. Students and teachers positively rated the session, with the combination of the nurse clinician's knowledge and expertise and photographs and depictions of knife crime as a unique and impacting approach to knife crime prevention. It is suggested that the nurse clinician and other experienced health professionals have an important contribution to make in preventive approaches to knife crime. Further evaluation of the knife crime prevention programme will be conducted by the authors.