TUCSON, Ariz. -- The University of Arizona will now train more nurses to perform sexual assault examinations.
The program will be paid for through a $1.49 million federal grant.
Program officials said they hope the new training program will help get more nurses who can perform sexual assault examinations into rural and underserved areas.
“We focus on the areas that have limited resources to obtain training,” said Douglas Taren, PhD, professor and associate dean of academic programs at the UA Zuckerman College of Public Health and director of the Western Region Public Health Training Center. “In addition to training nurses, we will work with local authorities to strengthen the infrastructure to provide individuals access to sexual assault exams and support for our students to work with local schools and community organizations to educate the public about relationship violence and sexual assault.”
Faculty from UA will teach online courses to help prepare registered nurses for the International Association of Forensic Nurses exam.
“Nurses require special training to effectively manage the nuances of working with individuals who have been sexually assaulted,” said Rene Love, PhD, clinical associate professor and director of the Doctor of Nursing Practice program at the College of Nursing.
Two members of the staff will also travel to provide in-person training for areas that need it the most.
Since 2015, the Western Region Public Health Training Center at UA has helped train more than 138,000 public health professionals.
