Wednesday, April 2, 2025
4/2/2025
Advanced Nursing Education - Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners Program - Project Director: Cindy Weston, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, FAANP, FAAN Contact Numbers: (817) 735-5817 (phone); (817) 735-2419 (Fax) Email address: cindy.weston@unthsc.edu Website Address: https://www.unthsc.edu/college-of-nursing/ Funding Requested: $1,500,000 Funding Preference: Qualification 2. Service area includes medically underserved areas and populations. Project Overview: The North Texas Area Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Consortium (NTXASC) is proposed to address the shortage of Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) and to overcome the cultural and linguistic obstacles that impede effective SANE services in North Texas, including its marginalized and rural communities. Through collaboration among academic institutions, crime prevention entities, and healthcare and social providers, NTXASC's primary goal is to develop and implement a comprehensive educational and professional SANE program. This program will offer both didactic and practical training in trauma-informed care, with a specific emphasis on fostering a culturally and linguistically competent SANE workforce reflective of the demographics in North Texas communities. Project Goals include: 1) Increase the number of trained and certified Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners (SANEs) in the North Texas region by implementing a comprehensive SANE curriculum tailored to the specific needs of North Texas; 2) Increase the number of available SANE training sites throughout the North Texas region through the establishment of NTXASC, a collaborative partnership involving tertiary academic institutions, crime prevention entities, and local hospitals; 3) Expand access to sexual assault forensic examinations, particularly in rural and underserved areas of North Texas, by partnering with local community organizations, law enforcement agencies, and advocacy groups. Together, these stakeholders will identify and address gaps in SANE services, focusing on cultural and social determinants of health; 4) Foster an environment supportive of SANE training, practice, and retention across North Texas by diversifying the SANE workforce through intentional outreach recruitment efforts targeting nurses from diverse backgrounds. Project Specifics: Through academic and clinical partnerships, the University of North Texas Health Science Center will establish a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) training program to increase the number of trained SANEs to expand access to forensic examinations and provide trauma-informed follow-up care to survivors through the North Texas Area SANE Consortium (NTXASC). NTXASC consists of the University of North Texas Health Science Center, Tarrant County College, JPS Health Network, One Safe Place, and the North Texas Area Community Health Center, a federally qualified health center. The consortium provides opportunity to recruit diverse trainees, provide culturally competent clinical and experiential learning as well as didactic education, and to address gaps in access to trauma-informed survivorship care. Tarrant County College launched Exito Juntos to increase the number of bilingual associate degree registered nurses (ADN-RN) in 2017. Since that time over 200 registered nurses have received medical translation certification. Through NTXASC, these ADN-RNs can enter the University of North Texas Health Science Center RN to BSN program where they can receive supplemental education in the didactic curriculum and training as an adult/adolescent sexual assault nurse examiner. Through JPS Health Network, these trainees will complete the clinical and experiential learning to qualify for SANE certification and also be able to provide much needed forensic exams at One Safe Place, the Tarrant County Family Justice Center. Finally, through the North Texas Area Community Health Center, Trainees can interact with survivors seeking trauma informed follow-up care at the federally qualified clinic serving as the primary care medical home.
HHS’ Tracking Accountability in Government Grants System (TAGGS) website provides access to detailed descriptions of grants, loans, aggregated direct payments and other types of financial assistance awarded by the HHS Operating Divisions (OPDIVs) and the Office of the Secretary Staff Divisions (STAFFDIVs).