The International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN), in collaboration with OVC, invites forensic programs that are vested in preparing current and future Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) and Sexual Assault Forensic Examiners (SAFEs) for clinical practice to apply for funding to establish SANE Regional Centers of Excellence (SANE Regional CoE).
The program’s purpose is to increase the number and quality of the SANE/SAFE workforce and provide survivors of sexual violence access to highly skilled SANEs/SAFEs. The SANE Regional CoE will collaborate with IAFN to provide an individualized hands-on preceptorship experience to didactically prepared SANEs/SAFEs to—
- improve the depth and breadth of the student experience,
- strengthen the trauma-informed approach, and
- increase the probability that the SANE/SAFE will return to their community prepared to practice.
IAFN will work closely with the University of Colorado Health Memorial Hospital Forensic Nurse Examiner Program to develop a preceptorship experience for didactically prepared SANEs that can be evaluated and replicated across three additional centrally located, high-volume clinical sites, both hospital and community based.
After the SANE Regional CoE are established and evaluation mechanisms are in place, IAFN will sponsor 20 didactically prepared SANEs/SAFEs to participate in the preceptorship experience at each site.
What are SANE Regional CoE?
SANE Regional CoE are forensic programs where didactically prepared SANEs/SAFEs can obtain precepted clinical experience caring for patients who have experienced sexual violence under the supervision and direction of experienced forensic nurse preceptors.
SANE Regional CoE are staffed by experienced in-house SANEs who can precept didactically trained SANEs/SAFEs and provide individualized clinical experience and resources.
Important Information for Potential Applicants
The selected sites will agree to enter into a subaward agreement detailing how the SANE Regional CoE model will be provided. Funds from this subaward can be used to hire or cover the salary and fringe benefits of 0.5 FTE of a forensic nursing preceptorship project manager. Selected sites will be expected to provide an annualized budget.
IAFN expects to make up to three awards of up to $181,965 each for a 30-month period of performance to begin on April 1, 2024.
Eligibility: Hospital- or community-based, high-volume forensic nursing programs in the United States. A high-volume program evaluates 360 or more sexual abuse or assault patients annually.
Applicants must—
- be located in the United States. “United States” specifically includes the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
- be staffed for 24-hour coverage with SANEs/SAFEs.
- serve patients/survivors of sexual assault as the first point of contact.
- at a minimum, serve adolescents and adults.
- agree to participate in a virtual interview and a 2-day site visit for a needs assessment.
- submit an administrative letter of support upon request.
- participate in biweekly meetings, data collection and reporting, debriefing activities, and program evaluation.
Deadline: Apply by 5:00 p.m., eastern time, on Monday, March 25, 2024.