Nashville sexual assault victims can now skip the hospital ER

A Nashville, Tenn.-based clinic providing sexual assault victims with specialized medical attention outside of the hospital setting is slated to begin seeing patients by the end of June.

The facility, dubbed the Sexual Assault Forensic Exam Clinic, was conceived by the Nashville-based nonprofit Sexual Assault Center and is operated through a partnership between Nashville General Hospital, the Metro Nashville Police Department and the Nashville District Attorney's Office. It is the first non-hospital facility in Nashville to collect forensic exams for victims of sexual assault, according to Nashville's NewsChannel 5.

A forensic exam — colloquially known as a "rape kit" — is a collection method trained nurses use to preserve evidence following a violent crime. During the exam, a patient relays details of the incident to a nurse examiner who uses this history to inform a head-to-toe examination, which may include photographing injuries, swabbing for DNA and collecting foreign materials.

The goal of a forensic exam is to document relevant evidence that may corroborate a patient's testimony during a criminal investigation.

Forensic exams are most often conducted in a hospital's emergency room, despite the fact that many rape victims don't need emergency care, according to Nashville Public Radio. The SAFE Clinic, which is staffed with trained nurse practitioners from Nashville General Hospital, offers patients an alternative to the ER.

"We have created this wonderful, lovely space that is safe and nurturing and calm," Rachel Freeman, president and CEO of the Sexual Assault Center, told NewsChannel 5. "It's a place where rape survivors can come after they've experienced this devastating crime that's a non-hospital setting because the majority of rape survivors do not need the care of the hospital."

The SAFE Clinic cost $2.5 million to construct, all of which was funded by private donors. Along with forensic exams, the clinical also offers patients access to advocacy and legal resources.

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