MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s College of Nursing has secured a $1.5 million federal grant to expand training and certification for nurses caring for sexual assault victims.
On Wednesday, the center in Memphis announced that the three-year grant from the Department of Health and Human Services Health Resources and Services Administration will expand the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner program in West Tennessee.
The center says the 21 counties in West Tennessee only have five certified SANE nurses, four of them in Shelby County, which includes Memphis.
The program trains nurses to address survivors’ needs and provide trauma-informed care.
The center will team up with West Tennessee Healthcare, the Shelby County Crime Victims and Rape Crisis Center and the Whiteville Family Medical Clinic on the initiative.