Abstract: Sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) play a critical role in providing quality care to patients who have experienced sexual violence. Recent national legislative initiatives have been launched both to better explore state-specific needs in regard to training SANE nurses as well as pilot programs that will establish evidence-based methods of expanding SANE training to remote, rural, and underserved communities.A scoping literature review was conducted to identify best practices in SANE training as well as implications for delivering this education to rural and underserved communities. This review analyzed the scientific strengths and weaknesses of existing research, provided an overview of findings within the literature, and identified areas where further research could be directed to inform local, state, and national strategy on SANE education.Blended learning programs that pair online education with simulated clinical experiences are promising alternatives to the traditional classroom experience; however, more research is needed to know how to enhance retention and engagement of nurses utilizing these methods to obtain preliminary SANE training.
Abstract: The National Protocol for Sexual Assault Medical Forensic Examinations, Adult/Adolescent, 2nd edition, or SAFE Protocol, is a voluntary guide that assists local and state jurisdictions with their responses to sexual assault by institutionalizing best practices around survivor care and evidence collection, particularly for sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) completing medical forensic examinations. We examined the uptake of the SAFE Protocol in communities across the United States by analyzing data from a set of national surveys of forensic nursing programs and victim advocates within the same communities. We studied four implementation outcomes: the acceptability, adoption, reach, and sustainability of the SAFE Protocol. SANEs and advocates reported that stakeholders responding to sexual assault-including forensic nurses, advocates, law enforcement, and prosecutors-have high implementation of the Protocol, which indicates how important individual stakeholder engagement is in actively facilitating the adoption of it. However, when information from SANEs and advocates from the same community are compared, the extent to which the SAFE Protocol is reported to be implemented with fidelity across U.S. jurisdictions is mixed.
Objective: This study aimed to identify the strategies used by forensic community mental health nurses to resolve difficulties in supporting offenders with mental disorders under the Medical Treatment and Supervision Act in Japan.
Method: Interviews were conducted with 13 nurses, and the data were analyzed using content analysis.
Results: The study identified the strategies for difficulties in (a) assessing and managing risk potential of forensic service patients, (b) addressing offending behavior, (c) managing the transition of patients, (d) supporting patients to understand the impact of justice processes and applying knowledge of legislation to nursing, and (e) promoting the role of forensic community mental health nurses within the multidisciplinary team.
Conclusions: The findings can benefit and support forensic community mental health nurses' practices. The Japanese forensic community mental health nurses experiencing difficulties and providing home visits to patients can utilize the identified strategies.
Abstract: Forensic nurses engaged in medicolegal death investigations experience trauma-induced responses in responding to, investigating, and documenting sudden unexpected deaths. The trauma of these repeated experiences often results in diminished performance, job dissatisfaction, and burnout. The principles of trauma-informed care are not new but have not been incorporated into death investigation practices. When coupled with medicolegal death investigation procedures, application of these principles can help to alleviate distress for forensic nurses, colleagues, and decedents of concerned families. This case series illustrates how the principles of trauma-informed care can be implemented to enhance communication, deescalate emotional or threatening situations, and prevent retraumatization in the context of medicolegal death investigations.