Setting a new standard of Sexual Assault Trauma Care
The number of nurses experienced in providing care to sexual assault victims has wavered over the years at Penn State Health Holy Spirit Medical Center. Liz Knauss, nurse manager of the emergency department at Holy Spirit, said there were two good programs over the years with effective staffing, but recently, the hospital had only two Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, or…
(WHTM) — Penn State Health Hampden and Holy Spirit Medical Centers are launching a partnership to enhance support for sexual assault survivors. The two hospitals are partnering with Penn State’s Ross and Carol Nese College of Nursing to enhance support for these patients through secure telehealth technology. Registered nurses in the emergency departments at both hospitals who have completed Sexual…
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sexual assault victims have better outcomes when they receive specialized care, yet there is a shortage of trained sexual-assault nurses across the country, especially in rural areas. A $1.5 million, three-year grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration will allow the Penn State’s Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth (SAFE-T) Center to identify and partner with…
The SAFE-T Center was mentioned in a Joint State Government Commission Report by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania titled, “Mental Health Services for Victims of Sexual Assault and Rape.” The report detailed active Office for Victims of Crime (OVC) awards in Pennsylvania, which includes the SAFE-T Center. According to the report, the SAFE-T Center was the second…
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — For victims of sexual assault, high-quality health care provided by sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) is associated with improved health and prosecutorial outcomes. However, very little is known about access to SANEs. Sheridan Miyamoto, assistant professor and SAFE-T Center principal investigator, and Elizabeth Thiede, nursing doctoral student and 2021 ENRS Student Conference Scholarship Award winner, wanted…
What is the overall goal of the project? The Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth (“SAFE-T”) Center aims to develop a statewide network of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (“SANEs”) so that no matter where victims seek medical treatment, they have access to compassionate, high-quality, forensically defensible, and patient-centered care. By establishing the SAFE-T Center, medical professionals conducting sexual assault forensic exams…
Delivering the new standard of Sexual Assault Trauma Care
