Curious about being a forensic nurse examiner

[pinkiepieRN]

Hi. I have experience working in adult psych, geri and now child psych. Full disclosure: I was stranger raped 11 years ago. I went to the ER, he was caught and jailed and I've worked through pretty much all of the trauma related mental health issues. I remember when I was in the ER how great the SAFE (Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner) nurse was and that will always stick in my head as a meaningful experience. I'm looking to pick up a second job with some flexibility. I was looking into SAFE nurse training programs and they seem pretty straight forward. They don't seem to require any specific nursing background. I'm not just interested in doing this for myself, I was involved in sexual assault prevention before the event happened. Anyone out there do this and work in a not necessarily related specialty (OB, ED, etc.)?

[NightNerd, MSN, RN]

Check out your state BON or do a Google search and see where FNE or SAFE classes are offered near you. I took a class in April (the medical center I work for has a program), and at the time my only experience was in hospice. I will say that I'm still completing my clinical requirements and don't have a job lined up yet, but some classmates of mine were able to find jobs really quickly. Good luck! It is a great field.