Response to Delgadillo Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner article

Abstract

I wish to thank Destiny C. Delgadillo, MSN, RN, of Tacoma, Washington, for her article “When There is No Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner: Emergency Nursing Care for Female Adult Sexual Assault Patients” in the July 2017 Journal of Emergency Nursing.1Delgadillo DC When there is no sexual assault nurse examiner: emergency nursing care for female adult sexual assault patients.J Emerg Nurs. 2017; 43: 308-315Abstract Full Text Full Text PDF PubMed Scopus (8) Google Scholar The article is important in its timeliness because of the critical shortage of sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) and a backlog of rape-kit evidence. Unfortunately, the wrong side is winning in the battle against sexual assault. In no way do I mean to imply that staff nurses are abetting the perpetrators, but even with an article as guidance, they are still not at the level of proficiency of a SANE nurse. And the backlog of evidence further impedes the staff nurse from preventing sexual assault; perpetrators remain at large and continue to repeat their offenses. I have trained to be a SANE nurse, and the article appears to be correct but not nearly as in depth as a SANE training course. A SANE examination can take as much as 4 to 6 hours to complete, and I know of no ED nurse who has that kind of time to devote to a single task in a 12-hour shift. Further, when the evidence goes to court, a defense attorney will tear away at the lack of experience of a staff nurse in evidence collection and preservation. These are only 2 of the plethora of reasons that we, as a nursing community, must push for an increase in the number of SANE nurses. During our push for more SANE nurses, we should also make a plea for funds and personnel to relieve the backlog of rape kits, which, in turn, would help decrease the overcrowding of emergency departments. Seth Augenstein reported in Forensic Magazine in January of 2018, that Cleveland, Ohio, had 4,418 kits in backlog. After the kits were analyzed, 437 serial rapists were identified.2Augenstein S Rape kits in America: battling the backlog-on-backlog in SAKI. Forensic Magazine, January 3, 2018.https://www.forensicmag.com/news/2018/01/rape-kits-america-battling-backlog-backlog-sakiGoogle Scholar It is imperative that we have properly trained people in place and kit analyses done promptly to bring justice to victims and to decrease our ED census pre-emptively. I implore readers to investigate SANE training and become SANE nurses. Although the need is great, there are few SANE programs. The person you help to find justice is someone to somebody. My daughter was attacked a few years ago, and nobody was there for her; therefore, her assailant escaped justice. Also, we must start pre-emptive measures to decrease ED and hospital overcrowding; this is a great place to start because it does more than merely decrease numbers. It can bring justice and closure for many victims of sexual assault. When There is No Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner: Emergency Nursing Care for Female Adult Sexual Assault PatientsJournal of Emergency NursingVol. 43Issue 4PreviewMs. L is a 29-year-old woman who arrives at the emergency department and reports that she was sexually assaulted 2 hours ago. She states that she was running on a trail near her home when a man appeared, wrestled her to the ground, and raped her. Full-Text PDF