The state Attorney General’s Office is working with state lawmakers to draft legislation that would require hospitals to have a specially trained medical provider available to examine a sexual assault victim.
Of the nearly 200,000 registered nurses in Illinois, only 32 are certified by the International Association of Forensic Nurses to work with adult sexual assault patients. A dozen of the sexual assault nurse examiners are certified to treat children.
The draft legislation would require hospitals to have a trained medical professional available within 90 minutes of a patient’s arrival. Hospitals would be required to implement the change by 2023.
Nurses must be taught how to conduct exams, record injuries and ask questions that don’t add to a patient’s trauma.
The Illinois Health and Hospital Association said training enough nurses in such a short time period isn’t possible.
