The use of sexual assault nurse examiners in the emergency department

Abstract

The statistics are staggering for SA victims. Rape is the fastest growing and most under reported crime. The significance of the problem resides in a lack of trained SANE within the emergency department (ED). The strong evidence presented is multifaceted and the literature supports the importance for a full time (FT) SANE program. For this QI project, the aim was to measure how many SA cases came in the ED between November 18, 2020 and December 31, 2020. Patients 14 years and older who presented to the ED during this time period were included in the data collection. A specific tool for the local hospital was created to track whether each SANE case was completed by a SANE or non-SANE, and whether they were pulled from the ED floor or they were on-call for SA exams. This data was successfully collected and one out of three, or 33% of SA cases were completed by a non-SANE, and one out of three cases required pulling a nurse from the ED floor. The end goal of the quality improvement (QI) project is to implement a policy change within the ED to create a functional SANE Program as part of the ED. The current model at the local hospital does not provide the gold standard of care for victims of SA in the community. The outcomes of the QI project along with the strong literature support the need to have a SANE completing all SA exams. The data collected during this QI project will be presented to stakeholders at the local hospital Summer 2021.