Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners

I am very interested in becoming a SANE nurse and have had a really difficult time finding out where such trainings are held. Do you have any advice?

New Jersey is relatively good as far as SANE nursing practice is concerned. We have a state mandated SANE/SART program. (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner/Sexual Assault Response Team). The nurse works an independent contractor type position for the county. Most of us have regular nursing type jobs and submit "on-call" hours each month. This year NJ State Board of Nursing gave certification in forensic nursing, FN-CSA (Forensic Nurse-Certified Sexual Assault) which we all had to acquire in order to continue working as SANEs. The nurses I have met through the SANE program in Union County NJ are a wonderful group and I am proud to be one among them.

How does your on call work? How many shifts per month and what is the pay rate that you receive?

My county has a full time SANE Coordinator.
One of her functions is to facilitate the schedule.
We let her know what hours we are available.
A calendar is e-mailed to us and as people give their time, the updated calendars are repeatedly sent to us. This way we can see which hours are still open.
We are asked to commit to a minimum of 30 hours a month.
The on call pay is a small fraction of a plumber's on call rate.
I tend to think of it as "community service." [but don't get me started on that]

I have been a S.A.N.E. for over 1 year now and we are currently restarting our program. In our program the SANE is the person who does the exam and the rape kit. We also do alot of teaching and are an active part of the SART in our area. We have a well rounded group of SANE's with alot of OB/GYN experience including a Midwife. It is an area of medicine that of course nurses are better than most MD's. The MD's in our ER are standing on their heads they are so happy the program is being revamped. So hang in there if you are having trouble. When the MD's see how much of a help you are they will be glad you are there.