With local shortage, nurses receive sexual assault examiner training

Sarah Hofius Hall, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.
·2 min read

Sep. 27—CARBONDALE — For a victim of sexual assault, a forensic exam can sometimes lead to additional trauma.

Eighty certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners work statewide — and only one in the Northeast region, according to the Scranton-based Women's Resource Center. That sometimes leads to problems with the collection of evidence or even prevents a victim from seeking an exam.

In an effort to better support survivors, the Women's Resource Center of Lackawanna and Susquehanna counties and the Victims' Intervention Program of Wayne and Pike counties hosted training Wednesday at Hotel Anthracite in Carbondale. For a total of 40 hours over two weeks, a group of health care workers will receive Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner training.

The 14 professionals, mostly emergency room nurses or nurse practitioners, represent health systems or agencies that also want to improve services for victims.

The Wright Center for Community Health hopes to take some of the volume out of the emergency departments through a new women's health initiative, said Christine Wysocky, a nurse practitioner receiving training.

Through another new program, Maternal and Family Health Services also hopes to care for victims, said Julie Nardella, chief clinical officer. Five nurses from the center attended the training and hope to not only provide exams to patients in need, but to also connect them with resources and aftercare, she said.

This is the second time the Women's Resource Center has offered the SANE training, thanks to funding from the AllOne Foundation, said Sabrina Hannon, the center's medical advocacy program coordinator. Twelve nurses received training two years ago, but since then, most of the nurses have left the area or become travel nurses, she said.

A shortage of trained nurse examiners exists nationwide, said Jennifer McNew, a forensic nurse consultant from Chambersburg. Some nurses don't receive support from their hospitals to receive training, and Pennsylvania law does not require that evidence be collected by a certified examiner, she said.

Sometimes evidence may be missing from a kit, or the chain of custody could be questioned. That can result in court cases being thrown out, McNew said.

"It's traumatizing them all over again," she said.

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9133; @hofiushallTT on Twitter.