Become a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner with the IU Health and IU School of Nursing Academic-Practice Partnership for Forensic Nursing
Forensic nursing is a unique specialty that combines the art of nursing with health care science as well as the legal system to help bridge the gap between medicine and law.
Forensic nurses provide comprehensive care to victims of violence, offering detailed medical forensic exams, while placing medical and emotional well-being as the priority. A forensic nurse can be a registered nurse (RN) or an advanced-practice nurse (APN).
There are a variety of subspecialties within forensic nursing, including forensic nurse examiner (FNE), sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) for adolescent/adult or pediatric patients. There is also forensic nurse death investigator (NDI) or nurse coroner, forensic psychiatric nurse, forensic clinical nurse specialist, legal nurse consultant, forensic gerontology specialist, and correctional nurse, SWAT team nursing and more.
Scroll down to see our sexual assault nurse examiner training opportunities and to apply.
The IU Health and IU School of Nursing Academic-Practice Partnership for Forensic Nursing Training, Practice, and Retention is a grant-funded program, awarded by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). These training opportunities are funded by HRSA Grant #T96HP53171.
The IU Academic-Practice Partnership for Forensic Nursing provides multiple training opportunities including:
40+ hours of didactic forensic SANE training
a two-day forensic SANE simulation training
an up to 60-hour clinical preceptorship
a variety of evidence-based continuing education opportunities to enable forensic SANE-trained nurses to maintain and advance skills and competencies
peer support and sharing of best practices through networking and mentorship
Learn more about becoming a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE)
SANE is an acronym for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner. SANEs are trained to provide care to patients through a medical forensic exam. The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner role is one of the many roles of a forensic nurse.
SANEs provide medical forensic exams, including a comprehensive medical forensic history, and implement a post-sexual assault plan of care and continuity of care.
SANEs may also be called to serve as a fact or expert witness by the legal system. These healthcare providers must understand the legal and medical implications of their care.
The medical forensic exam, or Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) exam, is a comprehensive head-to-toe exam performed by a registered nurse to preserve evidence of a sexual assault.
The examination includes gathering information from the patient for the medical forensic history; a physical exam; coordinating treatment of injuries, documentation of biological and physical findings, and collection of evidence from the patient. The exam also includes documentation of findings; information, treatment, and referrals for STIs, pregnancy, suicidal ideation, alcohol and substance abuse, as well as non-acute medical concerns. Follow-up is also important to provide additional healing and treatment.
Minimum of two years in clinical practice as a registered nurse
Completion of the application process, which includes two letters of recommendation
Completion of an interview
Signed class policy agreement
Depending upon your interest or where you work, you may choose to participate in:
Adult/Adolescent didactic and clinical courses, which are for the care of Adult and Adolescent patients ages 14 or older
OR
Pediatric didactic and clinical courses, which are for the care of pre-pubescent children
Please note: Adult/Adolescent and Pediatric courses are not the same as each course prepares the attendee for the unique needs and care of the different age groups, The Adult/Adolescent and Pediatric course also has a separate clinical requirement.
First, you will need to complete an initial 40-hour didactic education component in either Adult/Adolescent or Pediatric BEFORE the clinical education component. (The clinical education component is NOT mandatory.) Scroll down to see our training opportunities and to apply.
Additional training options are available after the didactic education and clinical education components have been successfully completed.
Training Opportunities
These training opportunities are funded by HRSA Grant #T96HP53171. Due to HRSA grant funding requirements, all application questions must be answered in full.
Adult/Adolescent
Fall 2024 dates: October 8, 15, 22, & 29, and November 5 & 12, 2024 Spring 2025 dates: April 2, 9, 16, 23, 30, and May 7, 2025 Will meet in person from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for this six-week course IU Health Ruth Lilly Health Education Center, 2055 N. Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Registration Deadline: For fall 2024: September 8, 2024 For spring 2025: Coming soon
This 40+ hour didactic course will focus on sexual assault nurse examiner training for adolescent and adult patients.
The course is taught by experts in their respective fields, including actively practicing expert Forensic SANE RNs and APNs, victim advocates, detectives, prosecutors, a toxicologist, crime lab scientists, child and adult protection services, resilience coaching, and more.
This course is the first step in preparing for practice as a forensic nurse. The next step is to meet the clinical requirements to practice as a forensic nurse. The combination of completing this didactic course, plus completion of the clinical requirements, qualifies you to begin providing forensic nursing care. This is not a certification course. Certification requires two years of practice, as well as successfully passing a certification exam.
Attendance at every class is required to complete this course.
Application Process:
A letter of recommendation from your manager is required
A letter of recommendation from a colleague who knows your work habits is required.
Once you have received the above letters of recommendation, upload both letters and complete the application.
Your National Provider Identifier (NPI) number. You will need this number as part of the application process. (Here's the link to the NPI website: https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov.)
The final step in the application process is a 1:1 conversation/interview to discuss the course requirements and expectations and to answer any questions you may have. This will be arranged with you once your application is uploaded.
Stay tuned! The application for the spring 2025 course will be posted soon!
This online class fulfills the didactic requirement for training in adult/adolescent forensic nursing care. Course content includes, but is not limited, to trauma-informed care, adult/adolescent anatomy and physiology, documentation evidence collection, collaboration with community partners, discharge planning, and follow-up specialty care for the adult/adolescent population.
Once the course is started, the online training program must be completed in 12 weeks.
NOTE: This course does not prepare you to care for pediatric patient populations.
This online course is provided at no cost, thanks to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Grant #T96HP53171.
Application Process:
A letter of recommendation from your manager is required
A letter of recommendation from a colleague who knows your work habits is required.
Your National Provider Identifier (NPI) number. You will need this number as part of the application process. (Here's the link to the NPI website: https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov.)
Once you have received and collected the above information, upload both letters and complete the application.
Two-day trainings will be held January 7 & 8, 2025 and May 15 & 16, 2025 Will meet in person for two-day training The Simulation Center at Fairbanks Hall, 340 W. 10th St., Suite 4100, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Registration deadline: For January training: December 7
This non-mandatory course will provide participants with simulation-based clinical training so trainees can practice offering sexual assault exams.
Application criteria:
Certificate of completion of your 40-hour SANE Didactic Course.
Documentation that you are working or are being hired to work as a forensic nurse with an established forensic program.
Your National Provider Identifier (NPI) number. You will need this number as part of the application process. (Here's the link to the NPI website: https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov.)
This FREE 60-hour clinical preceptorship occurs at IU Health Methodist Hospital Center of Hope with experienced forensic sexual assault nurse examiners.
Preceptorship participants must have completed a 40-hour didactic course that meets IAFN guidelines before applying for the opportunity.
This preceptorship will be available starting in 2025. Check back for more information.
Pediatric
Spring 2025 dates: February 4, 11, 18, 25, & March 11, 2025 Will meet in person from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for this six-week course IU Health Ruth Lilly Health Education Center, 2055 N. Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Registration Deadline: For spring 2025: December 17, 2024
This course fulfills the didactic requirement for training in pediatric forensic nursing care. The content of this course includes, but is not limited to, trauma-informed care, prepubescent anatomy and physiology, growth and development, documentation, evidence collection, collaboration with community partners, discharge planning, and follow-up specialty care for pediatric and early adolescent patients ONLY (Tanner stages I & II) or sexual maturation (Tanner stages I & II). PLEASE NOTE: This class does not prepare you to care for the older adolescent or adult patient.
Attendance at every class is required to complete this course.
Application Process:
A letter of recommendation from your manager is required
A letter of recommendation from a colleague who knows your work habits is required.
Once you have received the above letters of recommendation, upload both letters and complete the application.
Your National Provider Identifier (NPI) number. You will need this number as part of the application process. (Here's the link to the NPI website: https://nppes.cms.hhs.gov.)
The final step in the application process is a 1:1 conversation/interview to discuss the course requirements and expectations and to answer any questions you may have. This will be arranged with you once your application is uploaded.
Training will be held June 17, 2025 Will meet in person from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Simulation Center at Fairbanks Hall, 340 W. 10th St., Suite 4100, Indianapolis, IN 46202
This non-mandatory course will provide participants with simulation-based clinical training so trainees can practice offering sexual assault exams.
Applications coming soon!
Course to be scheduled soon. Please check back for more information.
SANE Continuing Education
Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024 Will meet in person from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Indiana Community Action Association, 1845 W. 18th St., Indianapolis, IN 46202
Cost $75 for RNs, EMS $50 for prosecutors, law enforcement, social workers, and advocates
This course will focus on the medical aspect of strangulation, community and collaborative relationships, legal aspects of strangulation, and the strangulation assessment.
Strangulation cases often require a multidisciplinary approach involving healthcare professionals, law enforcement, and legal experts. Participants will learn how to identify injuries, including the possibility of internal injuries that require prompt recognition and intervention. Legal definitions and implications surrounding strangulation are discussed, along with the need for accurate documentation, investigation practices, and legal proceedings.
Community Partners
This course is a joint venture between the Indy Roadrunners Chapter 134 Emergency Nurses Association, Indiana Coalition Against Domestic Violence (ICADV), Indy Champions, and the Marion County Prosecutors Office.
Continuing Education
6.75 Indiana Continuing Legal Education (CLE) and ANCC contact hours have been submitted for attorneys, law enforcement personnel, nurses, and others.
Thursday, January 16, 2025 and Thursday, June 12, 2025 Will meet in person from 1 to 5 p.m. IU Health Ruth Lilly Health Education Center, 2055 N. Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Instructor: Calvalyn Day, MsED, TICC
Lead coach and consultant Calvalyn Day, MsED, TICC, has practiced as a school counselor and coach helping individuals achieve personal and professional goals. Calvalyn is a nationally published author, speaker, and trainer working with multi-million dollar mission-driven organizations. Calvalyn's style blends the right amount of information and inspiration to create transformation for clients. Calvalyn is trained in trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy, motivational interviewing, collaborative problem solving and the Structured Analysis Family Evaluation (SAFE) foster family screening tool.
Monday, March 10, 2025 Will meet in person from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. IU Health Ruth Lilly Health Education Center, 2055 N. Senate Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46202
Kristina Korobov and Kathleen Nolan, attorneys with Zero Abuse Project, will be presenting during this Testimony Training in March.
Kristina Korobov is a senior attorney with Zero Abuse Project. She brings 20+ years of experience as a prosecutor and trainer in the areas of crimes against children and crimes of sexual and domestic violence against adults.
Kristina previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana. There, she was the Project Safe Childhood Coordinator, prosecuting cases involving internet crimes against children and sex trafficking of minors. These prosecutions included sextortion, child solicitation, and hands-on offenses, as well as crimes involving trafficking in child sexual abuse material. She worked cases with the Indiana Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and served as the co-chair for the state’s anti-trafficking task force (IPATH).
Kristina has been training on a national and international level since 2003 and formerly served as a senior attorney for the National Center for the Prosecution of Violence Against Women (NCPVAW), a division of the National District Attorney’s Association (NDAA) in Alexandria, VA.
Kathleen Nolan is a senior attorney with Zero Abuse Project. She brings 15+ years of experience as a prosecutor in the area of child protection.
Kathleen previously served as the Chief of the Children’s Justice Division in the Madison County State’s Attorney’s Office in Madison County, Illinois. The Children’s Justice Division handled the charging and prosecution of all child victim cases in the county including physical abuse, sexual assault and child deaths. Her role as Chief of the Division also involved mentoring and training the attorneys she supervised. She also created and presented specialized trainings for members of the Madison County Multi-Disciplinary Team including police, forensic interviewers and Department of Children and Family Services workers.
As a board member of the Southern Illinois Child Death Investigation Task Force, Kathleen worked with a team of professionals across Southern Illinois to create more effective procedures for the examination of suspicious child deaths. Her work as a board member including the creation and presentation of trainings for the various members of the task force.
Stay tuned! The application will be posted soon!
It's critical for SANEs to have continuing education opportunities to ensure patients receive the highest quality of care.
We're currently developing a schedule for continuing education opportunities. Please check back for more information soon.
Meet the IU Academic-Practice Partnership for Forensic Nursing Team
Barbra Bachmeier
JD, MPH, MSN, APRN, NP-C, CPH, DF-AFN, FAEN Project Director IU Health Email Barbra
Natalie Calow
MSN, RN, CEN, AFN-C Center of Hope Forensics Coordinator IU Health Email Natalie
Paula Reiss
MSN, RN, FAEN Certified Health and Wellbeing Coach IU School of Nursing faculty Email Paula
Molly Bauer
PhD, RN, CEN, TCRN Principal Investigator IU School of Nursing faculty Email Molly
Still Have Questions?
Contact the Center for Professional Development and Lifelong Learning at the Indiana University School of Nursing at cenurse@iu.edu.
We're assisting with the cost of new memberships to the AFN! Applicants must have completed the 40-hour Adult/Adolescent or Pediatric SANE Didactic Course, have an NPI, be a practicing forensic nurse in Indiana, and be a new member of the AFN.
This website is supported by the HRSA of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of Grant #T96HP53171. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HRSA.gov.
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