DOI: 10.1177/10778012241247189 ISSN: 1077-8012
Emergency Nurses’ Experience Providing Care and Perceptions About Using Telemedicine for Sexual Assault Patients
Wendy A. Walsh, M. Kathryn Allison, Melissa Zielinski, Sherrie Searcy-Lyle- Law
- Sociology and Political Science
- Gender Studies
Most emergency medical clinicians are not trained to conduct forensic sexual assault exams yet are often the first to care for survivors of recent sexual assault. Before the implementation of live sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) consultation provided via telemedicine (“teleSANE”) in one state, results of an online survey of emergency nurses ( N = 116) found only 13% felt extremely confident providing quality forensic sexual assault examinations. Two-thirds of emergency nurses felt using teleSANE during sexual assault care would support their clinical decision-making skills. Findings suggest that teleSANE may be a promising strategy to improve access to specialized sexual assault care.