Become A SANE

Earlier you may have heard about the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) course. The SANE course, supported by the US Department of Justice, is a 40-hour course for experienced Registered Nurses. Nurses who complete the course are able to perform the nursing/forensic episode of care for the sexual assault victim in the Emergency Department and other areas of the Medical Agency. Nurses are also prepared to take the Certification Exam offered through the International Association of Forensic Nurses. This course has been available in Mississippi for seventeen years and is a joint effort with the MS Department of Public Safety, Department of Health, and The Office of the Attorney General. The model has been very successful in as it frees the attending physician, provides a nurse with expertise, and moves patients through the episode of care in a more efficient way. In cases that go to court, the physician is also freed from testifying, and the nurse is specially trained to do so.

This extensive course does include a live model assessment lab and a mock trial. MSCASA does not charge tuition for the course, but the nurses can purchase CEU’s (40 Contact Hours) for $50.00. There is now a scholarship available that covers travel related expenses. Please e mail me for more information.

As you choose which nurses to send, do consider nurses with experience and an interest in serving victims of sexual assault. MSCASA will be glad to familiarize your physicians, hospital administrators and legal team with the SANE model, and let them know this nursing role is endorsed by the American College of Emergency Physicians, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO). Please register your nurses promptly to make sure an adequate number of training materials are prepared. Only register those nurses who are certain to attend. Participants will receive a packet with all course details and instructions.

 

 

• Mississippi Coalition Against Sexual Assault offers the SANE course 3 times per year at no cost in each region of the state: northern (fall), central (winter); and southern (summer). Please check our calendar for upcoming dates or email Shalotta Sharp at shalottasharp@aol.com.
• The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) training is a forty hour course that includes classroom lecture, group projects, alive models skills lab and a mock trial. This course fulfills the guidelines set forth by the International Association of Forensic Nurses, and meets the educational requirement for nurses applying to sit for the national certification exam. The University of MS School of Nursing provides academic oversight for the course and awards nursing CEUs. After taking the course, the nurse completes a clinical practicum at his/her practice sites. The training is also valuable to prosecutors, law enforcement officers, victim advocates and crime lab analysts.

 

 

1. Review the multi disciplinary team concept of response to sexual assault.
2. Define forensic nursing, discuss its history, and list professional organizations involved in promoting forensic nursing.
3. List the roles and responsibilities of the SANE.
4. Discuss the dynamics of sexual assault; the myths, offender characteristics, and psychiatric sequelae.
5. Demonstrate the sexual assault forensic examination including history, physical assessment, genital examination, physical evidence collection, forensic photography, and documentation.
6. Review the process of evidence evaluation by the criminalist.
7. Identify the aspects of nursing management for the emergency department episode of care including injury identification and management, issues of special populations, sexually transmitted management, issues of special populations, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy prevention, and discharge care and referrals.
8. Review the roles and responsibilities of the criminal justice system including the laws of Mississippi, the criminal justice process, prosecution strategies, defense strategies and SANE testimony techniques.
9. Discuss SANE ethical issues such as the IAFN code of ethics, values, confidentiality, and consent.
10. Review evaluation standards for SANE practice.
11. Review the components of the clinical practicum: nursing skills, evidence collection, and the observation of criminal trials.