TUCSON, Ariz. - The University of Arizona will be providing free training to their nurses to help them become better equipped to help sexual assault victims in rural areas.
The @UofA will be providing #FREE training for nurses to better help sexual assault victims in rural areas - WATCH to see why these specific areas were chosen. @kgun9 pic.twitter.com/eFpXu86lhT
— Veronica Acosta (@VeronicacostaTV) December 11, 2018
The free training is made possible through a $1.49 million federal grant.
The grant's purpose is to increase the number of certified sexual assault nurse examiners in rural areas in four states and the U.S. affiliated Pacific Islands.
The grant will allow for 35 nurses to be trained a year, for the next three years. It will also allow for 12 additional nurses to receive certification.
"It's really three parts to this training, the first part is an online training that they do through a didactic component of it, and then they have to get the clinical portion of the training, that's where they actually go work with certain sexual assault nurse examiners to get the experience, once they have the number of clinical hours they need , they're ready to set for the exam," said Dr. Rene Love, a clinical associate professor and director of the Doctor of Nursing program at the College of Nursing.
Dr. Rene Love added they chose to help urban areas throughout the chosen states, including Arizona, for a specific reason.
"While we have greater number of nurses that have already been trained in urban areas, now patients or victims are having to drive long distances to get these services, that's why we're focusing on these particular areas," said Dr. Love.
The grant, which funds the training program, was provided by the Health Resources and Services Administration Advanced Nurse Education Sexual Assault Examiner program.
