Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Services

University Health Center Author

08/26/2022 Added

30 Plays

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Bethany Berg and Melissa Wilkerson explain what Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner services are available at the University Health Center and how students can access them.

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[00:00:01.168]Hi everyone, my name is Melissa Wilkerson
[00:00:03.357]I'm with the CARE office here on campus
[00:00:05.703](Center for Advocacy, Response, and Education).
[00:00:07.718]Today, I'm here with Bethany to talk about
[00:00:09.757]a new service we'll be offering this fall right here on campus.
[00:00:13.496]My name is Bethany Berg,
[00:00:14.648]and I'm a physician assistant at the University Health Center
[00:00:17.681]here on campus.
[00:00:19.742]So Bethany tell us a little about what's coming
[00:00:21.562]to the health center this fall for our students.
[00:00:23.256]Yes, of course. So this fall, we're rolling out
[00:00:26.069]additional services for any students who are
[00:00:30.144]survivors or are victims of sexual assault or sexual violence
[00:00:33.603]with the addition of adding SANE services
[00:00:37.441]which stands for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner
[00:00:39.834]also called a SAFE service, if you've ever heard
[00:00:42.787]that term which stands for
[00:00:43.938]Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner. As of now
[00:00:47.323]the services will be provided by myself.
[00:00:49.121]Currently as we go into the fall semester
[00:00:50.774]the SANE services will just be available
[00:00:53.466]during clinic hours which would be Monday
[00:00:55.123]through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
[00:00:56.522]with a possible Saturday morning, if needed.
[00:00:58.823]If a patient or survivor would need care outside
[00:01:02.068]of those hours, we recommend they go to one of
[00:01:04.098]the local emergency rooms because they have
[00:01:06.366]24/7 care available. Otherwise, we would be able to
[00:01:09.052]assist at any point. It's a good reminder that
[00:01:11.567]you do have 120 hours, so you're welcome
[00:01:14.490]to go to the ER, but depending on the situation
[00:01:16.180]the next day, you could call us first thing and we
[00:01:18.407]could definitely take care of you.
[00:01:20.715]So can you tell us a little bit more about
[00:01:22.363]what all a SANE exam or often referred to,
[00:01:25.115]commonly referred to as, a rape kit, tell
[00:01:27.372]us a little bit about what that entails.
[00:01:29.375]Any survivor of an assault can get
[00:01:33.373]a SANE kit completed up to 120 hours after
[00:01:37.511]an assault, which is equal to five days.
[00:01:40.062]That is just to allow for evidence collection,
[00:01:42.862]so when a patient or survivor would present
[00:01:45.862]to the clinic, they would tell us that perhaps or
[00:01:48.661]when we find out, then this allows us to do a
[00:01:51.678]full head-to-toe exam, check for any injuries,
[00:01:53.661]we would then get to - if the survivor wants to -
[00:01:57.695]complete an evidence kit that would then
[00:01:59.645]could be passed onto law enforcement for
[00:02:01.695]further investigation.
[00:02:03.046]It also allows us to give them medications
[00:02:05.394]they may need, talk through options, and resources
[00:02:08.344]and such things.
[00:02:09.661]So a couple questions, you said that
[00:02:11.428]if they want to, if they want to go through
[00:02:13.111]this evidence collection, so whose choice is that?
[00:02:15.144]Always the patient or survivor.
[00:02:17.261]My goal is to meet them where they are.
[00:02:20.063]You can do as little or as much as you
[00:02:22.312]want to of the exam. If you do not want to
[00:02:25.128]report anything or do any evidence collection
[00:02:27.028]perfectly fine. You can come in, and we can
[00:02:28.678]just talk about medicines, options, where to
[00:02:30.861]go from here, and if you want to do the full
[00:02:32.844]kit and talk to law enforcement and do
[00:02:34.794]an investigation, happy to support whatever
[00:02:37.528]the patient decides is best for them.
[00:02:39.429]Does someone coming in to get a
[00:02:41.312]SANE exam automatically start a reporting
[00:02:43.078]process with law enforcement or the university?
[00:02:44.962]That's a great question, and no. The state of
[00:02:48.712]Nebraska has three options. So if a patient/survivor
[00:02:51.645]comes in to complete a kit with myself or SANE,
[00:02:54.095]it does not mean they have to necessarily
[00:02:56.211]start an investigation. We have an option
[00:02:58.596]in the state for anonymous reporting which
[00:03:00.595]means the patient/survivor can complete an
[00:03:02.828]entire kit, do all the evidence collection,
[00:03:04.978]and it will be sealed and law enforcement will
[00:03:07.562]hold onto that kit up to 20 years if
[00:03:09.661]or when the survivor decides they want to
[00:03:11.494]pursue an investigation. There's also options
[00:03:13.761]obviously for full reporting and something called
[00:03:16.228]partial reporting, but no seeking out care
[00:03:18.562]preserves your option to potentially
[00:03:21.145]start an investigation in the future, but it
[00:03:23.179]doesn't mean you have to talk to anyone
[00:03:24.796]if you don't want to.
[00:03:26.412]Great, when it comes to reporting options
[00:03:28.446]you're always welcome to come talk with a
[00:03:30.045]CARE advocate to explore what those options
[00:03:31.562]mean and what they entail.
[00:03:34.689]So tell us a little about how much information
[00:03:38.393]are you giving the patient/student as the
[00:03:40.410]procedure is taking place?
[00:03:41.827]We try to step-by-step through the process.
[00:03:45.027]I never want to jump into something
[00:03:47.076]before people know what's going on.
[00:03:49.076]Typically, we try to layout "this is what
[00:03:50.892]a perfect world would be like if you want to
[00:03:52.376]do all these steps". If you don't want to do
[00:03:54.143]"X, Y, and Z" we won't do it.
[00:03:55.644]As we go through each step, I'll say again
[00:03:57.660]"We're getting ready to do this, do
[00:03:59.777]you want to do this or do you change your mind?"
[00:04:01.343]At any point if they said they no longer
[00:04:03.309]want to do it, perfectly fine. We're not
[00:04:05.110]by any means going to force anyone.
[00:04:07.159]I just am here to support them in
[00:04:08.959]any way we can.
[00:04:10.159]So talk to me about support.
[00:04:11.959]Is the individual allowed to have a supportive
[00:04:14.442]person in the room with them during
[00:04:16.393]the time of the exam?
[00:04:17.576]Typically, it would be myself, the provider,
[00:04:20.444]and then the patient and we often
[00:04:22.577]try to have one of our advocates or
[00:04:24.676]someone in an advocate role. They
[00:04:26.392]can help the patient navigate all the way
[00:04:28.110]from the initial visit with myself through
[00:04:30.226]all the steps and offer many more resources
[00:04:32.226]than even I know about. They would be
[00:04:34.680]confidential as well. Yes, they are definitely
[00:04:36.827]allowed support if they need it.
[00:04:38.360]So oftentimes what happens is,
[00:04:40.027]my office, the CARE office, gets a call from
[00:04:41.676]the health center letting us know, if
[00:04:43.448]they know ahead of time that someone
[00:04:45.306]is coming in and might be seeking services
[00:04:46.860]as a result of a sexual assault or
[00:04:49.693]a domestic violence incident. When
[00:04:51.626]that happens, we can report to the health center
[00:04:53.692]so we can support someone if they choose.
[00:04:56.494]So again, it's always the individual's choice
[00:04:58.361]even if they have someone, like myself, a
[00:05:00.610]confidential advocate present.
[00:05:03.176]So, I just mentioned the fact that I'm
[00:05:04.908]confidential, and the advocates in the CARE
[00:05:07.138]office are confidential. Talk to us a little
[00:05:09.006]bit about you, your services, and the SANE
[00:05:11.072]exam, and the level of confidentiality that
[00:05:13.039]you offer.
[00:05:13.905]Great question, one people worry about often.
[00:05:15.822]But yes, everything contained within the
[00:05:18.000]visit with myself or the SANE exam would
[00:05:20.106]be confidential. We would not be sharing
[00:05:22.516]that with anyone else unless the patient
[00:05:24.156]or survivor wants us to explicitly. That even
[00:05:27.607]includes friends, family, teachers on campus
[00:05:33.373]that kind of stuff unless the patient gives
[00:05:35.523]us permission to do that.
[00:05:37.240]How about insurance, will it show up
[00:05:38.873]on someone's insurance records?
[00:05:40.555]No, because currently the services
[00:05:45.289]offered at the health center for a SANE
[00:05:47.407]exam would be at no cost to the patient.
[00:05:49.640]We are lucky enough that we have funding
[00:05:52.530]available and a process in place that would
[00:05:56.207]cover the cost of the exam, any testing that
[00:05:58.940]was needed, any medications that are needed
[00:06:01.223]so cost should never be prohibitive for
[00:06:03.406]the patient receiving care.
[00:06:04.789]So if I understand that correctly, it's
[00:06:06.807]confidential service, and it's free of charge
[00:06:08.840]to students for both the exam and any
[00:06:11.774]medications they might be prescribed as
[00:06:13.956]a result of the exam or situation?
[00:06:15.773]Correct. Great.
[00:06:16.723]Bethany, thanks so much for being
[00:06:18.890]with us today, and giving us some more information
[00:06:20.723]about this new program that's being
[00:06:22.323]offered right here on our campus. It's so
[00:06:24.289]important for students to be aware this exists.
[00:06:26.190]And it's free of charge. If you have questions
[00:06:28.290]or want more information, you can always
[00:06:30.156]reach out to the CARE office or
[00:06:32.273]our website, care.unl.edu or
[00:06:34.739]at the health center website which is
[00:06:37.373]health.unl.edu.

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