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For immediate release:  August 8 , 2007 (Clyde, NC)

HRMC to Provide Sexual Assault Nure Examiner (SANE) Training

HRMC to Provide Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) Training

By Marian Larson

Beginning August 9, Haywood Regional Medical Center will be providing once a week training for seven weeks to interested nurses who wish to attain SANE- A certification. 

According to the International Association of Forensic Nurses website (www.iafn.org), the SANE-A credential, is a professional international certification for sexual assault nurse examiners who work with adults and adolescents.  Nurse examiners who take the extra step to become certified in their specialty prove their commitment to the field.

Haywood Regional Medical Center Emergency department nurse Robin Nelson has seen her fair share of sexual assault victims coming to the hospital. She is looking forward to the SANE training to equip her with the most appropriate way to offer assistance.

"I just wanted to know how I could help. I wanted to give back, to learn the best way to handle such traumatic situations," she said.  In addition to Nelson, four other ER nurses - Wanda Makhyoun, Jill Burnette, Sally Hollifield and Amanda Evans – are also scheduled to partake in the training.

Leading the course at HRMC is Renee Collette, BA, BSN, RN. She is the coordinator of forensic nurse examiner programs based at Mission Hospitals in Asheville and has worked in forensics for two decades.

"This class gives nurses the knowledge to assist their patients with understanding and empathy throughout their stay in the hospital," Collette said.

The training consists of two components - a classroom training portion and a clinical portion. The didactic session is a week-long program in which the students look at issues of sexual assault and domestic/intimate partner violence. They focus on laws specific to North Carolina and learn about collecting evidence for the State Bureau of Investigation.

The clinical portion has many components, including learning to perform a pelvic examination; a ride-along with law enforcement; visiting offices of the District Attorney, Rape Crisis Center, and Department of Social Services; working with a pediatrician for wellness checks; and being involved in the collection of evidence.

The RN is expected to complete the clinicals six months after completing the didactic component. After their work meets all the criteria set by the State Board of Nursing in North Carolina, they are SANE-A certified, Collette explained.

On average, HRMC handles one to two sexual assault cases per month. Shirley Harris, interim vice president of the clinical services, said that HRMC is filling a need in the community by giving staff specialized training in sexual assault care.

"Emergency departments are overloaded at times, and we felt that these patients were being somewhat underserved," Harris said. "When the need is there, we're committed to doing what is best for our patient population."

Harris also applauded the nurses taking the course, saying that this training was not a job requirement and was not mandatory, however staff was very excited about the opportunity. 

"I have praise for people who choose to do this work. It is a true sign of compassion and caring,” she said              . 

Makhyoun, a nurse for 30 years, said that the SANE-A training will help ensure that she and her fellow nurses are collecting evidence the right way.

"All of us do rape kits, but this training class will ensure that we collect evidence the way the state wants us to collect it," Makhyoun said. "The chain of evidence won't be broken."

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(L – R)  HRMC Emergency Department nurses Wanda Makhyoun, Jill Burnette, Robin Nelson and Amanda Evans (not-pictured) begin training to become sexual assault nurse examiners on August 9. 

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