Maine’s Advanced Nursing Education Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Training Grant (HRSA)
In the past two years, the world has fundamentally changed. Nurses have been exposed to a spectrum of experiences. With the first emergence of coronavirus, there was a universal commitment to community care, which has transformed to burnout. There was an outpouring of public adoration for health care providers, to now, a previously unforeseen level of public scrutiny. Most nurses were first in line to receive vaccination to promote public health and encourage a solution to a problem. During it all, nurses held out hope.
For one group of nurses, the experience of a public health crisis and burnout is an everyday acquaintance. This specialty honors community care. They endure vicarious trauma, and persist. They encounter the realities of depravity, and remain steadfast. These extraordinary nurses are known as forensic nurses. They seek solutions to the public health problem that is sexual violence.
The representation of forensic nurses in Maine is primarily identified under the title, ‘Sexual Assault Forensic/Nurse Examiners’ (SAFE/SANE). This cohort of nurses is dedicated to combating sexual violence within society and caring for survivors of interpersonal violence in a healthcare setting. Forensic nurses receive specialized, evidence-based education and training to provide trauma informed care and medical treatment for individuals experiencing sexual assault, domestic violence, non-fatal strangulation, human trafficking, child abuse and elder abuse. Forensic nurses hold space for Indigenous Peoples, people of color, and LGBTQ+ communities. Forensic nurses recognize that unrestricted access to professional and safe reproductive health care is crucial for people who can become pregnant. The workforce engaged in this specialty are a culmination of clinical, community, emergency, legal and advocacy nursing.
Forensic nurses should be present in every Emergency Department in every hospital in Maine. This goal has yet to be realized. The greatest barrier is support and buy-in from the organization itself. Employing, supporting and retaining forensic nurses – plural — is purposeful. Doing this, the hospital highlights to their community that services and educated/trained staff are available to provide competent care when sexual violence afflicts its members.
Resources exist to support Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners within the State. The State of Maine hosts an established Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner (SAFE) Program, a program now over twenty years old. Housed in the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Child and Family Services, it serves the people of Maine through trauma informed education, legislation, policy formation, and purposeful alignment with advocates. This program was bolstered in 2018 with a federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) awarded to The University of New England School of Nursing and Population Health Advanced Nursing Education Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Program (ANE SANE). The goal of this public/private partnership is to recruit, train and educate forensic nurses; to increase the supply and geographical coverage of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners; to expand access to medical forensic examinations especially in rural and underserved areas; to provide education to colleges, universities and healthcare organizations; to engage with community partners and increase stakeholder support.
This partnership between the State of Maine SAFE Program and the ANE SANE Program at the University of New England offers education and training to meet and maintain credentialing requirements as a forensic nurse in Maine. The Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner Course is a forty-hour training for nurses onboarding into this specialty. This course, offered in various mediums numerous times each year, features experts across the State and their incredible experience and knowledge in caring for and uplifting both the adult/adolescent and pediatric sexual assault patient. The next offerings of these courses are via a virtual platform on October 5 – 7, 13 – 15 (adult/adolescent) and October 19 – 21 (pediatric). In addition to the SAFE Courses, educational offerings and support in topics pertaining to the forensic field occur each month for nurses and community partners. Forensic nurses have seen chaos before. To our fellow nurse professionals affected by a public health crisis, we see you. We know that, like a viral pandemic, responding to a pervasive public health issue requires community action. Forensic nurses are one of the leading voices in this struggle. They have passion, and hold out hope. We invite you to become part of the specialty called forensic nursing.