Improvement of sexual assault nurse examiner services at a community hospital

Abstract

Sexual violence affects a large portion of the population, and impacts survivor's short-term and long-term mental and physical health. Negative healthcare experiences following an assault may increase the person's trauma. The purpose of the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) is to assure that patients reporting sexual assault receive timely, competent and compassionate care by a trained individual. SANE programs can be difficult to fund and retention of Nurse Examiners is difficult. At a community hospital in a rural state, a SANE performed a microsystem assessment. Using servant leadership, the SANE advocated to improve services to patients reporting sexual assault and gained support from administration and the community.