Telehealth SANE
Definition
A programme model in which a credentialled SANE provides real-time remote guidance via video link, enabling high-quality forensic examinations in rural or under-resourced facilities that lack an on-site specialist.
- Provider
- Credentialled SANE
- Delivery
- Real-time video link
- Target setting
- Rural or under-resourced facilities
- Goal
- Access to specialist-guided exam quality
Common questions
Who physically performs the exam in a telehealth SANE model?+
A bedside clinician, often a general nurse or physician without SANE-specific training, performs the hands-on examination and evidence collection while the remote credentialled SANE observes via video and provides real-time guidance on technique, documentation, and evidence handling.
Does the telehealth model change how the forensic exam findings are documented or admitted?+
The exam still follows the same documentation and chain-of-custody standards as an in-person SANE exam; the remote SANE's guidance and observations are typically noted in the record, and some programmes have the remote SANE co-sign or review the documentation before it is finalized.
Related terms
- IAFN
- International Association of Forensic Nurses: the professional body that sets education standards, administers the SANE-A and SANE-P certification examinations, and publishes clinical...
- SAFE
- Sexual Assault Forensic Examiner: the UK and Canadian term for the specialist forensic-examiner role, which may be held by nurses, midwives, or...
- SANE
- Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner: a registered nurse credentialled by the IAFN to conduct medical-forensic examinations following sexual violence. SANE-A covers adult/adolescent patients;...
- Scope of Practice
- The legally defined boundaries of what a licensed nurse may do in a given jurisdiction, which for forensic nurses extends to evidence...
- Standing Orders
- Pre-authorised protocols signed off by a supervising physician or institution that permit the SANE to perform specified clinical acts (evidence collection, prophylaxis,...