STAR Volunteer Nurses
SEXUAL ASSAULT NURSE EXAMINERS (SANE)
- Keep your regular job
- Volunteer at your convenience
- Earn extra pay
- Join the Forensic Nursing Force
The SANE is a Registered Nurse who has had specialized training in providing services to victims of sexual assault. The training consists of evidence collection, use of the colposcope, and knowledge of resources available. The SANE trained clinician provides sexual assault victims with a comprehensive and sensitive evidentiary exam in a safe and appropriate environment. The SANE nurses associated with STAR undergo a 40-hour training that provides them with knowledge related to the actual forensic rape examination, the proper technique in evidence collection and preservation, and to provide expert witness testimony in a court of law.
The SANEs are trained through guidelines set forth by the International Association of Forensic Nurses (IAFN) and the Alabama Coalition Against Rape (ACAR). They practice within the guidelines of the Sexual Assault Protocol while providing care to victims. Following the initial 40 hours, nurses are required to perform speculum training with a physician or nurse practitioner and they will be accompanied on their initial exams at the STAR facility. Due to the quality of evidence that is able to be collected as well as the thorough documentation made by SANEs, many defendants have plead guilty to their crime.
NOTE: STAR/LHC contracts with each SANE Nurse who completes a 12 hour on-call shift for a small stipend of $40 per shift and $175.00 for each rape examination they perform in its entirety.
Download application for training. (Word doc)
Contact us to learn more about volunteering for Lighthouse.