Sexual Assault
Course #97023 - $18 -
- Participation Instructions
- Review the course material online or in print.
- Complete the course evaluation.
- Review your Transcript to view and print your Certificate of Completion. Your date of completion will be the date (Pacific Time) the course was electronically submitted for credit, with no exceptions. Partial credit is not available.
Whether out of impulse, compulsion, anger, or the assertion of power, sexual assault is a criminal act of violence imposed on the vulnerable and the innocent, causing immediate physical and emotional suffering and often having long-lasting adverse psychological effect. For health professionals and society as a whole, the prevention of sexual assault is an urgent and complex matter; for nurses and physicians, the proper evaluation, care, and follow-up of these patients are challenging issues that require an informed, multidisciplinary approach. This course will outline the scope of the problem, discuss the key clinical issues, and provide guidelines for the proper evaluation and treatment of sexual assault victims.
This course is intended for physicians, nurses, mental health professionals, and other healthcare professionals who may be called upon to provide care to victims of sexual assault.
The purpose of this course is to address knowledge gaps, enhance clinical and forensic examination skills, highlight management objectives, and improve outcomes for victims of sexual assault.
Upon completion of this course, you should be able to:
- Apply knowledge of epidemiologic trends and clinical data to current practice with respect to diagnosis and treatment of sexual assault victims and prevention of sexual violence.
- Craft a best-practice strategy for the clinical assessment, preventive treatment, and follow-up care of the patient who has been sexually assaulted.
- Apply knowledge of the type, location, and character of genital and non-genital injuries caused by sexual assault and rape, to assure a comprehensive clinical and forensic physical examination of assault victims.
- Describe key points of the forensic evaluation of sexual assault victims, including best practices for photographic documentation.
- Devise a treatment approach and select the appropriate drug regimen and/or consultation needed for prophylaxis against sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and prevention of pregnancy.
- Anticipate the immediate and long-term emotional and psychological impact of sexual assault and arrange for appropriate crisis intervention and follow-up care.
John M. Leonard, MD, Professor of Medicine Emeritus, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, completed his post-graduate clinical training at the Yale and Vanderbilt University Medical Centers before joining the Vanderbilt faculty in 1974. He is a clinician-educator and for many years served as director of residency training and student educational programs for the Vanderbilt University Department of Medicine. Over a career span of 40 years, Dr. Leonard conducted an active practice of general internal medicine and an inpatient consulting practice of infectious diseases.
Contributing faculty, John M. Leonard, MD, has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Ronald Runciman, MD
Mary Franks, MSN, APRN, FNP-C
Alice Yick Flanagan, PhD, MSW
The division planners have disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
Sarah Campbell
The Director of Development and Academic Affairs has disclosed no relevant financial relationship with any product manufacturer or service provider mentioned.
The purpose of NetCE is to provide challenging curricula to assist healthcare professionals to raise their levels of expertise while fulfilling their continuing education requirements, thereby improving the quality of healthcare.
Our contributing faculty members have taken care to ensure that the information and recommendations are accurate and compatible with the standards generally accepted at the time of publication. The publisher disclaims any liability, loss or damage incurred as a consequence, directly or indirectly, of the use and application of any of the contents. Participants are cautioned about the potential risk of using limited knowledge when integrating new techniques into practice.
It is the policy of NetCE not to accept commercial support. Furthermore, commercial interests are prohibited from distributing or providing access to this activity to learners.
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The role of implicit biases on healthcare outcomes has become a concern, as there is some evidence that implicit biases contribute to health disparities, professionals' attitudes toward and interactions with patients, quality of care, diagnoses, and treatment decisions. This may produce differences in help-seeking, diagnoses, and ultimately treatments and interventions. Implicit biases may also unwittingly produce professional behaviors, attitudes, and interactions that reduce patients' trust and comfort with their provider, leading to earlier termination of visits and/or reduced adherence and follow-up. Disadvantaged groups are marginalized in the healthcare system and vulnerable on multiple levels; health professionals' implicit biases can further exacerbate these existing disadvantages.
Interventions or strategies designed to reduce implicit bias may be categorized as change-based or control-based. Change-based interventions focus on reducing or changing cognitive associations underlying implicit biases. These interventions might include challenging stereotypes. Conversely, control-based interventions involve reducing the effects of the implicit bias on the individual's behaviors. These strategies include increasing awareness of biased thoughts and responses. The two types of interventions are not mutually exclusive and may be used synergistically.