Challenges and Collaborations: A Case Study for Successful Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner Education in Rural Communities During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Abstract: Challenges can often only be overcome with collaboration. In this case report of a Health Resources and Services Administration-funded program for Advancing Nurse Education - Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner, we describe the unique challenges and collaborations that have taken place in rural communities as we continued to train nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Geography and lack of availability of sexual assault nurse examiner (SANE) trainees brought many challenges as we prepared them to successfully pass the SANE certification examination and recruit new cohorts to expand SANE education.During the implementation of this program, we found that our process model, community collaboration, and commitment to these rural counties were the keys to our success before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.SANE trainee process and outcome measures were collected through quantitative and qualitative data collection. These data from the first cohort, along with the strategies implemented as all partners navigated the challenges of COVID-19, helped to strengthen our collaboration and expand the program. Details of these strategies and outcomes to date will be discussed.