Date of Award

Spring 4-6-2020

Document Type

Scholarly Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

Department

Nursing

First Advisor

Debbie Conner, Ph.D., MSN, ANP/FNP-BC, FAANP

Second Advisor

Stephen Heglund, PhD, MSN, APRN, FNP-C

Abstract

This quality improvement project answered the following question: Does implementation of sexual assault forensic examination protocols with educational training increase the number of staff who are knowledgeable and available to complete sexual assault forensic examinations and reduce wait times for individuals who present to the emergency department and have indicated that they were sexually assaulted, over no use of protocols, within a 15-week time frame? Evidence-based state protocols for performing sexual assault forensic examinations were implemented through educational training that incorporated national training criteria and hands on simulation skills practice. Evaluation of outcome measures confirmed an increase to over 80% of available and knowledgeable emergency department staff for providing sexual assault forensic examinations and forensic evidence collection. Implications of the findings support the existing evidence for implementing protocols to improve the provision of examination, treatment, and forensic evidence collection for sexual assault patients. The increase in available and knowledgeable staff for performing sexual assault forensic examinations is expected to reduce the wait time for patients who present to the emergency department and report that they have been sexually assaulted.

Comments

Scholarly project submitted to the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor Nursing Practice.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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