As sexual assault rates rise, provinces face shortages of specially trained nurses
As rates of sexual assault climb across Canada, nursing experts say there is a shortage of specially trained forensic nurses to properly care for victims.
Timely care from a well-trained forensic nurse can help stave off a cascade of post-traumatic effects, including depression, anxiety and even suicide, said Sheila Early, president of the Canadian Forensic Nurses Association.
"I always thought that as an emergency nurse, what I did was I put Band-Aids on these individuals. But as a forensic nurse, I helped them make that first step to whatever recovery that will come," Early said in a recent interview.
Sexual assault nurse examiners are forensic nurses trained to collect evidence from sexual assault and domestic violence victims, and to help them cope with trauma. They can also be called to testify in court. Their expertise requires hours of dedicated training -- at least 60 hours in Nova Scotia, plus observation training in a gynecological practice, said Martha Paynter, an assistant nursing professor at the University of New Brunswick.
"Their evidence gathering is a very different type of nursing work," Paynter said in an interview. It's also "extremely traumatizing work," she said, "and it takes somebody who really wants to do it."
Despite the emotional toll and the extensive training they carry, sexual assault nurse examiner positions are often casual roles, requiring the nurse to juggle on-call hours on top of their full-time nursing jobs, said both Paynter and Early. In the midst of a health-care crisis and widespread nursing shortages, it's no wonder some provinces are struggling to find nurses who will take on the extra load, they said.
New Brunswick's Vitalite Health Network cancelled training planned for February because too few nurses signed up, officials confirmed in a recent email. In the health region covering Labrador and parts of northern Newfoundland, officials confirmed they too put off training the region's first sexual assault nurse examiners after too few nurses responded to a call for interest last year.
The Labrador-Grenfell health authority said it will issue another call for interest this week.
There are also forensic nurse shortages in Ontario and Saskatchewan, according to nurses unions in those provinces.
"Dedicated funding is required to ensure every sexual assault (and) domestic violence centre in Ontario can provide 24-7 access to (sexual assault nurse examiners) for survivors," said a statement from the Ontario Nurses' Association, adding that it was "deeply concerned" about the shortage.
Meanwhile, Statistics Canada reports that the rate of police-reported sexual assaults in Canada rose by 18 per cent in 2021 compared to the year before, with the highest increases in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador and New Brunswick. In 2020, the rate of sexual assault in Labrador was six times the national average.
Paynter said nurses need to be given more flexibility to take on other duties and training.
"A lot of nurses would love to do this work," she said. "So how do we make the whole sector more flexible so that people can fit in these other things? We know that nurses are happier, they're most fulfilled when their scope is broadest."
Early said sexual assault nurse examiner expertise should be recognized as a specialty designation by the Canadian Nurses Association. That way, she said, there would be more funding for training and positions. The association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Early helped found British Columbia's first forensic nursing program in the early 1990s. In the decades since, change has been slow, but it has come, Early said, noting that some provinces are making efforts to offer full-time instead of casual jobs.
In Manitoba, health officials recently hired full-time forensic nurses after sexual assault victims were turned away from a Winnipeg hospital. The victims were told to avoid showering and come back when a specially trained nurse was available, said Darlene Jackson, president of the Manitoba Nurses Union.
New Brunswick's Horizon Health network is also expanding its forensic nurse examiner program in part by hiring full-time staff, officials confirmed Thursday in an email. The move comes after CBC reported last fall that an alleged rape victim was turned away from a Fredericton hospital and told not to wash until she could return when a forensic nurse was on shift.
Early said she's like to see more provinces make the job permanent.
"Violence is a public health-care issue. So why don't we deal with it on that level?"
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 2, 2023.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
Trump's lawyers try to discredit testimony of prosecution's first witness in hush money trial
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
U.S. flight attendant indicted in attempt to record teen girl in airplane bathroom
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Powerful tornado tears across Nebraska, weather service warns of 'catastrophic' damage
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.