Who else out there is a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner? I have been doing this for about 6-8 months and just went through the week long core SANE training that was put on by a major hospital and several SANE programs in our area. We heard from the coroner, police detectives, state crime lab, and various other Nurse examiners. I'd like to hear from others and compare notes on your programs in your areas.

l went thru the training in June of 01....we also heard from prosecuters office, spent time practicing expert witness, spent time in the crime lab, the program we had was excellent put out by University of Cincinnati....l have not done a lot with this, l was just thinking this morning that l need to get back into it more seriously.

I was sexually assaulted in March and would have given my eye tooth for someone with special training and compassion. People were total jerks to me.

renerian

WOW, renerian.. I didn't know. I'm sorry that happened to you.

omg..I didn't know either!! So sorry....

sorry to hear that ren!

i went through the SANE program a while back, I really do not like that part of nursing but felt someone had to do it so i did it.

Thank you everyone. I just think the "investigators and law enforcement personnel" forgot I was very upset and was very hesitent to deal with pushy men. No offense Mark......

Takes a special person to do that type of work.

renerian

A couple more questions...are you guys doing your own exams, or are you having an ER doc do the exam. We heard it both ways at the conference and I'd just like to hear other views. We do our own exams, but if we question anything or think that they need to be seen by a doc for something medical, we have the ER doc take a look.

I work for a SART team in California, we are State trained and work closely with all aspects of criminology. All of our cases are taped and recorded. As far as treating patients, I am sorry to hear Rein had a bad experience, I always put myself in the shoes of the patient and treat them the way I would want to be treated. You get alot more out of a patient if they trust you and respect you.... showing compassion and concern is the first step to achieving it !!

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. :roll

I went through the SANE training last spring. Since the hospital I work in, in fact the state, does not have a program (that I'm aware of) in place I figured who better to start one? So, I traveled to another state and at great personal expense, found the training I wanted. Unfortunately, I have met with a great deal of resistance in getting one up and going. "We simply don't have the funds available in the budget for a new program". " How can a nurse perform an examination better than a Dr?" These are only two examples of the numerous things I have heard as justification for not supporting a SANE program here. I was wondering if anyone else has heard of similar things when their programs were started, and if so, how were those "nay-sayers" overcome? Any input would be grand here. Thank you so much!

I know how hard it can be. Our program closed after 9 months. We restarted it on Memorial Day. The hospital that we work out of was glad to have the program back. Get in touch with the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) and your Rape Crisis program. Our program is paid for by the Coroners office. It is important that you work with the DA's office but you do not want to be biased. Keep your chin up because it does get better.

I am in my 6th year of SANE nursing and currently a member of a team of individuals developing a new SANE program for our area in PA. Currently, in the absence of A program in our county, the ER docs are performing the sexual assault exam. After September of this year however we will have SAFE's doing all of our exams! YAY!!!