SPOKANE, Wash. — MultiCare Health System was awarded a $1.5 million grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The money will go towards establishing a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) training program, according to MultiCare.
The SANE program works to train MultiCare's emergency department nurses to conduct trauma-informed and culturally responsive forensic exams. MultiCare says the curriculum used to train nurses is rooted in feedback from community stakeholders and sexual assault survivor advocates.
"Our intention is to provide comprehensive, survivor-centered care to survivors of sexual assault who come to our emergency departments,” said Jennifer Cantrell, RN, MSN, NPD-BC, SANE-A, interim project director. “With enhanced education and upgraded forensic medical supplies in our emergency rooms, we can ensure that survivors are supported immediately and compassionately and know that they are not alone."
The grant money will also help upgrade the forensic equipment and add the capability for forensic photography at each of MultiCare's 16 emergency departments.
According to MultiCare, Washington state has extremely high rates of sexual violence, and a limited ability to give emergency medical care to victim-survivors.
MultiCare hopes to add at least 300 SANE-trained and at least 15 SANE-certified nurses to the state's workforce within a 3-year period. This would, according to MultiCare's estimates, double Washington state's SANE workforce.
According to a press release, nurses outside MultiCare will also be invited to participate in the training.
MultiCare currently serves sexual assault survivors seeking care through a combination of voluntary on-call and contract nurses.
