Medical Response to Adult Sexual Assault 2E

Medical Response to Adult Sexual Assault, 2nd Edition is a “must have” reference book for all healthcare professionals that provide care for and have contact with sexual assault patients in all arenas of healthcare. The text provides a roadmap from the collaborative nature of sexual assault care through victim recovery. This roadmap includes laying a foundation for the care of the sexual assault patient based on the most current science and research. With the inclusion of chapters outlining the care of specific patient populations with unique healthcare, safety, and forensic needs, readers will find the most current approaches to medical forensic care. This text will be one of the most frequently used in any practitioner’s reference library.

This well-developed, comprehensive text will be a valuable resource for forensic nurse educators and their students. In addition, it will serve as an excellent reference tool for both novice and experienced sexual assault examiners. The format and content are well suited for use in a basic SANE/SAFE course, or as part of a larger and more diverse advanced forensic nursing education curriculum. Each chapter is written and arranged in a manner to provide the reader with a clear and complete understanding of the subject matter. Topics ranging from the history and development of SANE practice, through a detailed step-by-step explanation of clinical evaluation process (complete with detailed photographs), to recognizing and meeting the needs of a wide range of unique victim populations are all thoroughly covered. Nurses and non-nursing professionals working in the field of sexual assault response will also greatly benefit from the content provided on related topics including SART development, human trafficking, and nonfatal strangulation.

There have been many advances in the science and practice of forensic nursing over the past 3 decades and this work reflects the latest information available to instructors, students, and actively practicing forensic examiners alike. I highly recommend this book to any healthcare professional providing services for victims of sexual violence.

This authoritative text is an invaluable resource to all healthcare professionals (eg, physicians, advance practice providers, forensic nurses) who provide care to adults when there is a concern for sexual as well as physical assault. The authors, Linda Ledray and Ann Wolbert Burgess, provide a comprehensive review of the history of forensic nurse examiners as well as the approach to the medical history, physical and anogenital examination, documentation, and healthcare needs. The chapter by Diane Faugno and Stacy Mitchell will aid the team in expanding service provision beyond the acute sexual assault examination to assist our agency partners with medical evaluations, evidence collection, and documentation of injury in suspects. This text is essential for both the education of the novice examiner as well as for the experienced examiner who needs to maintain competency and currency in the field.

This is a very well written book that will serve as an excellent resource for students and clinicians. The authors ground their statements in carefully selected findings from a range of peer-reviewed research that includes a nice balance of both seminal and novel work. For example, in discussing victim impact, the authors describe findings from Burgess and Holmstrom’s pivotal 1974 study, which led to the development of the diagnosis of rape trauma syndrome. The chapter on the neurobiology of the trauma-stress response is especially well done and is a tremendous contribution to students and providers for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that when clinicians are facile with these concepts they are in a better position to help their patients understand and normalize their complicated responses to trauma, many of which are quite puzzling to victims.