Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Lawrence Memorial Hospital, and its nurses, should be applauded for their efforts to increase the number of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) certified nurses.
Because of a lack of certified nurses, the hospital recently had to send sexual assault victims to hospitals in Kansas City and Topeka to perform the examination required when the victims reported being sexually assaulted.
Janice Early-Weas, director of community relations and community education at the hospital, said currently, the hospital had seven SANE certified nurses who were on call for taking evidence and two certified nurses who would collect evidence if on duty but not on call. Two additional nurses have received certification and are currently going through orientation.
This leaves the hospital with 11 certified nurses, which is almost double the number the hospital had just a few weeks ago, and that number is going to continue to rise.
“We have five nurses in Tennessee this week for SANE training,” Early-Weas said.
To be SANE certified, a nurse must complete a 40-hour training course and then, once the course is completed, the nurse must observe on a certain number of sexual assault cases, Early-Weas said. The closest course offered is in Tennessee.
“It’s hard to say how long the certification process takes,” she said. “It varies on the number of patients we see.”
The hospital has offered no additional incentives to its nurses to get certified, Early-Weas said, but they have always paid for the course and all travel expenses.
Registered nurse Katherine Humphrey, a graduate of the KU School of Nursing who works at a hospital in the Kansas City area, said she got SANE certified last year because she believed there “needed to be a gentler hand who worked one-on-one with the patients.”
“I’m there to take care of my patient and collect evidence, not to judge,” Humphrey said.
Humphrey also said she got the certification because it would give her credibility in court.
“If you go to court and you’re not certified, you have to prove your capability to do your job as a nurse,” Humphrey said. “If you’re certified there is no question … it makes you an expert witness.”
Kathy Guth, a nurse practitioner in women’s health and SANE certified nurse at Watkins Memorial Hospital, has been certified since 1994. She said she became certified because there were so few nurses trained to perform the exam.
“We only had one other nurse who was certified and since I am in women’s health, it seemed appropriate for me to do it.”
Early-Weas said 49 patients at the hospital had been seen for sexual assault between Jan. 1 through Oct. 15. This is an increase from 2008, when the hospital saw 35 victims in the entire year.
Early-Weas said that the hospital’s goal was to always treat sexual assault victims when they could.
“With more certified nurses this goal is achievable,” Early-Weas said.
With the increase in sexual assaults in Lawrence, the nurses at the hospital should be applauded for their efforts to become SANE certified and students should once again be reminded to always keep their safety a priority.
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