New sexual assault examiners not up to task: union

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This article was published 12/01/2024 (604 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An essential forensic nursing program at Manitoba’s largest hospital is almost fully staffed with new examiners, after suffering a mass resignation nearly a year ago.

However, the Manitoba Nurses Union says training offered to the new recruits at the Health Sciences Centre fails to meet the needs of sexual assault and intimate partner violence survivors.

MNU president Darlene Jackson criticized the province’s flagship sexual assault nurse examiner program this week for missing “community-based, trauma-informed care,” after it was beset by staffing shortages, resignations, low morale and political controversy over the past 10 months.

“The delicate nature of this work — caring for patients who present with the most intimate injuries, in the most vulnerable states — for the most part is lacking because Shared Health has hired into the program individuals who have been educated online in a non-accredited program,” Jackson said Wednesday.

Forensic nurse examiners are trained to collect criminal evidence and support sexual and intimate partner violence survivors, including children, who present at HSC’s emergency department.

In April 2022, the province ordered a program expansion that included hiring permanent, full-time nurses to provide around-the-clock coverage at HSC, and to establish satellite sites in rural and northern communities.

The expanded program was to be up and running in early 2023.

However, in March 2023, a group of casual nurses quit, citing a lack of resources, a breakdown in communication between management and the front line and the distress of knowing shifts were going uncovered.

Two months prior, the MNU revealed severe staffing shortages were leading to assault survivors being sent home with instructions not to shower or wipe themselves after using the bathroom to preserve evidence until a nurse was available.

According to Shared Health — the organization responsible for HSC — five of six full-time equivalent positions in the program are filled, including a nurse educator position. A new hire is also scheduled to start next week.

The hospital has scheduled 24-7 forensic nurse examiner coverage since September, barring one eight-hour gap due to a sick call that could not be covered, a spokesperson said Thursday in a statement.

Training has also started for nurses outside Winnipeg to establish a “true provincial presence” for the program. Eight nurses in the Northern Regional Health Authority and two in Prairie Mountain Health completed their training in November, and seven more nurses start their course next week.

The union argued new nurses joining the program should be trained using an International Association of Forensic Nursing certified-program and have access to a “qualified nurse educator” at HSC.

“While the new hires show that there are no gaps in service to patients, with the schedule filled, the program continues to lack skilled forensic nurses to provide the kind of patient care this program was built on,” Jackson said.

IAFN-certified programs emphasize collaboration with community partners and the importance of listening to past experiences and asking questions, which is important for nurses who are called to testify, according to the MNU.

Shared Health defended its training, saying nurses are “well-equipped to support the care needs of patients seeking these services at an emergency department setting, with trauma-informed, culturally appropriate care.”

The 12-week micro-credential is offered through Northwestern Polytechnic in Grand Prairie, Alta., and is developed and delivered by Mount Royal University Prof. Cathy Carter-Snell.

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She is certified by the IAFN, according to its online registry.

Shared Health said the training is designed to be consistent with theory requirements to write IAFN’s sexual assault nurse examiner of adults/adolescents exam, and the online course is supplemented with a practical component at HSC and several months of hands-on training.

Considerable work has been done over the past year to improve workplace culture for forensic nurse examiners, the spokesperson added.

“Health Sciences Centre is committed to building a workplace culture that is supportive and positive for everyone, and is open to feedback on how to offer the highest quality care to patients.”

danielle.dasilva@freepress.mb.ca