More sexual assault victims seeking help amid shortage of trained nurses who examine them in Florida

SARASOTA, Fla. - Sexual assault nurse examiners gather critical evidence when a victim of sexual assault comes forward for help, but some Tampa Bay area medical professionals said there aren’t enough of them in Florida and across the country.

Sarasota Memorial Hospital said its team of sexual assault nurse examiners, or SANE nurses, saw 215 patients last year, and that’s up from 200 sex assault patients in 2022. They’ve had patients travel across county lines so a sexual assault nurse examiner can see them. 

"We started our program in 2015. We were averaging maybe five or six patients a month at that point in time. We currently see an average of 18 and 19 patients a month," said Elizabeth Kovach, the forensic program coordinator at Sarasota Memorial Health Care System.

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Kovach leads the team of more than 40 SANE nurses, whose training includes a 48-hour class, and they gather important forensic evidence for law enforcement and offer consultation and support for sex assault, domestic violence and human trafficking victims.

"We can take photographs for them of injuries, including internal photos, offer medications, connect them to resources in the community," said Kovach.

She said there aren’t enough of these specially trained nurses across Florida.

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"There's a huge shortage of forensic trained nurses," said Kovach. "We have patients sent to us from Manatee County, DeSoto County, Charlotte County. Last I saw, there may be one or two SANE trained nurses in Charlotte County, but they don't have a team. They don't have the resources."

Farther north, the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay said Hillsborough County is in good shape with its 13 SANE nurses on staff. Clara Reynolds, the president and CEO for the Crisis Center, said creating access for victims made a difference.

"I can tell you we have increased significantly, and it’s because we’ve had that second location [in Ruskin]," said Reynolds. "That was the reason we opened the second location, because we knew in a county as large as Hillsborough, individuals who had experienced really one of the worst things they could possibly experience did not want to have to travel an hour to an hour and a half to come up to our North Tampa location. So, we know that we are seeing more individuals."

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Reynolds added that they are also seeing sexual assault victims from other areas come to their locations, especially the Ruskin location, which was added in 2023. 

"We certainly have seen that particularly in Manatee," Reynolds said. "Some of that has to do with convenience because we are so fortunate in Hillsborough to have two locations that operate 24 hours a day."

The hope is to train more SANE nurses, so those who survive trauma understand they're taken care of.

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"For every one exam that we do, we’re still missing two, and that’s a national average that only a third of sexual assault survivors come forward for this help and support," said Reynolds.

Sexual assault nurse examiners can be trained to exam adults and children, and Sarasota Memorial’s forensic program coordinator said there are even fewer pediatric SANE nurses to see patients under 13. 

If you or someone you know is in crisis, you can call 211 and reach the Crisis Center of Tampa Bay in Hillsborough County, or you can call or text 941-365-1976 to reach the Safe Place and Rape Crisis Center in Sarasota County.

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