In its first committee hearing of the legislative session, the House College & Workforce Development committee heard a bill that seeks to expand important educational opportunities for nurses addressing sexual assault situations in Washington.
HB 1622, introduced by Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, would require the WSU College of Nursing to establish a sexual assault nurse examiner, or SANE, online and clinical training program and a program to develop and train lead SANEs.
Harborview Medical Center in Seattle provides such training in Seattle but the bill would provide opportunities on Washington’s east side. If the bill were to be approved and funded, WSU would offer online didactic instruction as well as the required on-site facility training. The program would be made available first in Spokane, with potential to expand to Yakima a year after.
As Washington’s land grant university, WSU provides dedicated research and education in service to state. Each legislative session a number of bills are introduced that, if passed and fully funded, would create research and education assignments for WSU. In the case of SANE education, WSU Director of State Relations Chris Mulick said “it’s natural WSU would be looked to for this, WSU is largest producer of nurses in Washington.”
The bill now awaits a vote by the policy committee.
You can watch testimony Mulick’s full testimony on HB 1622 here: