SANE-A Requirements in California

Just an update: I completed the online course at UC Riverside for certification as a Sexual Assault Examiner, SAE. The content was confusing, the internship requirements are almost impossible. I had been met with closed doors, unreturned phone calls and agencies that had no idea what a SAE was, let alone why an intern would want to observe the workings of their labs and facilities. I would lay awake at night lamenting the 700 bucks I handed over to end up more confused than ever (and that's saying a LOT for me!!)

Thanks to this site I was able to locate the Southern California Chapter of the IAFN, checked out the website and to my surprise noted there was a conference scheduled for this past October in Long Beach!!! I signed up to attend and it was like coming home!!! I met DA's, law enforcement, other SAE nurses and attended the most interesting presentations!!!

I made so many new connections my head is in the clouds and I am finally making progress towards my goals. I have completed my ride along with my PD, observed a SART peer review session and soon will be completing my clinical exam portion. The people I have met who do this in So Cal are all RN's and love what they do, they are compassionate and intelligent and dedicated to both the nursing and law enforcement aspects of this dynamic type of nursing.

I am still learning a lot, one thing I did not know was that you do not need this course to be a SANE, only an RN and demonstrate clinical competency to a supervisor, which takes, of course training, training, training. The RN's that staff these facilities work for the enforcement, state run agency and they are paid as independant contractors. They are on call and submit their availability to the supervisor for the month. I am not sure what the pay scale is and am aware that there are also private SANE exam facilities.

Very cool tour of one facility in Anaheim. I had never seen a rape kit before and the manager was the most supportive, knowlegable person! She went out of her way to meet with me and answer my questions. She is a former ED RN and supervises all the facilities. I believe we have 9 RN's here in SC total, not a lot. The Anaheim facility processes about 30 kits a month, December and January being the slowest month. She has agreed to assist me in completing the remainder of my internship requirements thru UCR, although I realize now it was a waste of time, since all I will get from the Uni is a cert of completion.

More to come....