BILLINGS — Billings Clinic partnered with MSU's College of Nursing Wednesday to help nurses across the state receive their SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) certification.
A training was held on Wednesday, where students in the course learned how to effectively examine survivors, to be compassionate and to provide trauma-informed care with those patients.
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"I thought it would be really fulfilling and really impactful for the community," said Ali Brown, an operating room nurse at St. Vincent Regional Hospital who was attending the training.
Brown told MTN Wednesday that the course taught her how to be sensitive toward patients during that vulnerable time.
"(I learned) some really great ways to approach some sensitive subjects, ways to phrase things that are helpful to make things a little less scary," she said.
It takes over 40 hours of training, an exam, and $3,000 to certify a SANE nurse.
Wednesday's course, and courses across the state (including in Lewistown, Butte and Glasgow) are covered by a three-year, $1.5 million federal grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration that will continue for two years.
That grant was administered to MSU's Mark and Robyn Jones College of Nursing, the Area Health Education Center and the Montana Office of Rural Health.
"Now, the fun part is... making the trainings happen," said Stacy Stellflug, an associate professor of nursing at MSU who helped write the grant.
"It's is such an unrecognized area, and an area that people don't talk about a lot," said Bridget Nelson, the clinical coordinator for the forensic nursing program at Billings Clinic.
The Billings Clinic Forensic Nursing Program has 11 active nurses, including five in rotation. Nine attended Wednesday's training. Several nurses from rural health care facilities attending the training as well.
Billings Clinic's SANE team has nurses on call at all times and in the emergency room when needed.
The ultimate goal of both Billings Clinic and MSU is to increase the number of SANE nurses across the state.
About half of Montana's counties do not have SANE-certified nurses, meaning some survivors may travel hundreds of miles for an examination.
"That really is our goal, to increase the number of nurses, not necessarily in our larger facilities, but also in those more rural settings," Stellflug said Wednesday.
Both organizations want to assure the general public that there are resources available for sexual assault survivors.
"There are nurses that are being trained and have the knowledge and the skill set to provide the care that they need," Stellflug said.
"We have the resources and the information we can get out there, and not every sexual assault has to be reported... We will support them in their decisions, and if they want to, we will help them navigate that system, as well," Nelson said.
Nelson said that most examinations are within the first five days of the assault, but can be extended if the patient desires. She also said not all tests are necessary for an examination, it all depends on the patient's comfort level.
"Patients get to make that decision," said Nelson.
Nelson notes that the Department of Justice can hold examination kits for up to 75 years, to allow a survivor to make that decision on whether or not to report their case.
In honor of Sexual Assault Awareness Month in April, the Billings Clinic Forensic Nursing program and Northern Lights are organizing a GALA fundraiser on May 3. More details about the event can be found at this link.
