The New York State Nurses Association is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

This course has been awarded 1.2 contact hours.

In 2002, in the United States, there were 247,730 victims of rape, attempted rape or sexual assault (NCVS, 2002). Of these approximately 248,000 victims, about 87,000 were victims of completed rape, 70,000 were victims of attempted rape, and 91,000 were victims of sexual assault (NCVS, 2002). It is widely recognized that rape and sexual assault are vastly underreported to law enforcement, as well as vastly under-treated in healthcare settings.

When a victim of sexual assault does seek treatment, she or he deserves the best possible care for both the physical and emotional consequences of the assault; forensic evidence must be collected and protected, so, when applicable, law enforcement can carry out their responsibility in apprehending the perpetrator.

The purpose of this continuing education course is to provide RNs with an introduction to the specialty of sexual assault nurse examiner, part of a larger field of sexual assault forensic examiners (SAFE).

© 2004 NYSNA, all rights reserved.

Course Objectives

Upon completion of this course, the learner will be able to:

• Define the role of the sexual assault nurse examiner.

• Discuss the history of the development of sexual assault nurse examiner programs.

• Describe the care that is provided by sexual assault nurse examiners to persons who have been victims of sexual assault.

• Identify where to learn more about becoming a sexual assault nurse examiner.

• State how to refer patients for sexual assault care.