Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners

Specialties Forensic

Published

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.

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]

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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]

Thank you very much for the information.

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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 am very interested in becoming a SANE nurse but have no clue where to start. I have no training as a nurse and I just need some help figuring out where to begin. If anyone has answers please let me know.

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beI am currently enrolled in a Forensic course thru UC Riverside and completing the Sexual Assault Examiner portion. After my final I will complete 45 hours of clinical/non clinical internship to obtain a certificate, however the group that provides the exam is IAFN. I was lucky to speak with C. C. today who is the local regional director and is just a welath of information. I would be happy to provide her website and contact infor for anyone interested in more information. She does exams, is also an expert witness and works independantly for herself. Very inspiring to talk with her!

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I've just started a course at my hospital in upstate NY. My classmates and I are really excited to bring the program forward, but funding is virtually non-existene for programs in the northeast. Anyone have ideas on how to really get things off the ground?

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Hello,

I am currently an RN with my assoc degree and I am enrolled in a RN to BSN program. Unfortunately I had car issues today and I was unable to attend my forensic nursing clinical day which was at our local county jail. For my makeup assingment, I would like to interview someone in forensic nursing because I think it is a very interesting field. However, I am having some difficulty finding someone. If there is any one willing to tell me a few things about your forensic nursing position, it would be greatly appreciated! I can be contacted by private message

Thanks,

Kim

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Update, I have completed the classwork for the Sexual Assault Examiner through UC Riverside and am trying, and trying, and trying to complete my clinical internship requirements. So far I completed my police ride along and a peer review meeting. I am met with brick walls in attempting to get the required clinical/pelvic exams completed and I am up against a time constraint.

Big waste of 700.00 bucks and I will still have to pay about 250.00 more to sit for the board exam, that's hoping I can complete the clinicals, but I am on my own and there do not seem to be any state or county run agencies that would sponsor me. It is very sad that I am running into these roadblocks because I would be great at this job! I am objective, detail oriented and compassionate. I have no agenda and would be great on the witness stand.

SOB!!!!!

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I am currently enrolled in a Forensic course thru UC Riverside and completing the Sexual Assault Examiner portion. After my final I will complete 45 hours of clinical/non clinical internship to obtain a certificate, however the group that provides the exam is IAFN. I was lucky to speak with C.C. today who is the local regional director and is just a welath of information. I would be happy to provide her website and contact infor for anyone interested in more information. She does exams, is also an expert witness and works independantly for herself. Very inspiring to talk with her!

Thank you, Haunted, for the kind words. You may be interested to know that UC Riverside has made me the instructor for the Sexual Assault Examiner course. I guess they thought it was best to have someone who actually works as a SANE to teach the course....what a concept!!

I went through and revamped the course and exams to make it better. We are halfway through the January to April course and my students are happy and getting good grades. I must say that your class was the first and we have made many improvements after learning from you and your valuable feedback. I hope you would be willing to recommend the course, now.

I am very happy that you have found a great group to work with. They are one of the best!

I understand that I will be teaching the next class, as well...(and hopefully more) so thank you, for your participation and letting me know that I helped you in some way.

Best Regards,

Cari SANE-A

PS. By the way....The National Certification is given by the Forensic Nursing Certification Board. That was the first question that I took out of the final exam because all the answers were incorrect!!!!

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I am the clinical director of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners in Mercer County WV. We currently have 6 trained nurses that perform all of the sexual assault exams in the county except for pediatrics. The chronic pediatric exams are performed by or Medical Director with our assistance.

Our program covers the county and we are on call 24/7. Our program has been very successful in our county and we serve the surrounding counties as well.

I feel that if a trained person comes in outside of the working ER staff, you have the time to give to the patient, dont have to be rushed and do a much more thorough job. Plus having the court experience we can represent the evidence collected.

I am so happy to hear that we have so many SANE nurses out there doing a great service to the public.

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How did you go about finding the course? I have been looking for one in Arizona and have been running into dead ends. Any suggestions?

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I have been a SANE for a couple years. The week of training was so informative. The SART program here is a joint venture with the hospital, sheriff's department, and the local woman's shelter participating. We meet once every two months to work out issues. Some SANE's are hospital employees but most are not. If we work for the hospital in an area besides the ER, we do NOT do sexual assault exams while on the clock. When we do the exams, we send a letter the the sheriff with the case number and the sheriff's department sends the nurse $200 for her time/expertise.

The woman's shelter always sends an Advocate to the exam. The Advocate is usually with the patient by the time the nurse arrives. The Advocate is not a nurse but has much of the same training. She does most of the counseling and supplies the patient with follow up info, helps the nurse collect information and communicates between the SANE and the ER staff since the SANE can't leave the evidence. She is great to have around and is a hge help to the patient and nurse. Having an advocate helps the nurse be able to stay more focused on collecting the evidence, etc. This team work has been fairly successful and the ER is always so happy to see us!

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How did you go about finding the course? I have been looking for one in Arizona and have been running into dead ends. Any suggestions?

You can find it on the UC Riverside Extension. Look for the sexual assault examiner course.

http://search.extension.ucr.edu/search?q=nursing&site=ucrextension&client=ucrextension&proxystylesheet=ucrextension&output=xml_no_dtd

I found out that I will not be teaching the next class but the next two after that.

Good luck.

cari

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