Forensic Nursing Program Receives Federal Funding

In 2019, nurses in Cleveland Clinic’s Forensic Nursing Program handled more than 675 cases of trauma and abuse at two of its main trauma centers, Fairview Hospital and Hillcrest Hospital. They provided specialized care for victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, child abuse, interpersonal relationship violence, elder abuse, neglect and human trafficking.

The Forensic Nursing Program gets a huge boost from the federal Victims of Crime Act (VOCA) grant program, which funds victim services throughout the nation from money collected by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices from offenders convicted of federal crimes. In 2019-2020, Cleveland Clinic’s Forensic Nursing Program was awarded $403,000. It’s the fourth year in a row the program has received VOCA funding.

“The Forensic Nursing Program is extremely important to care for victims and survivors of crime,” says Barbara Morgan, MSN, RN, NE-BC, ACNO of Emergency Services at Cleveland Clinic and Director of Nursing for the Emergency Department at main campus. “The VOCA grant funds awarded to our program are used to increase access to our highly-trained forensic nurses in supporting the recovery and resiliency of victims and in educating our caregivers.”

Grant funds more nurses, expanded programming

Through the years, grant funding has helped Cleveland Clinic expand forensic nursing. In 2017, victims of crime who entered any facility in the healthcare system were medically cleared, discharged and then sent to Fairview Hospital or Hillcrest Hospital – the forensic centers of excellence – for specialized care. Today, the forensic nurses travel to 11 hospital systems across five counties in northeast Ohio to care for patients.

“We will go anywhere to help victims of crime that present and want medical care,” says Michele Reali-Sorrell, MSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, Forensic/SANE, Enterprise Forensic Nursing Program Manager. Last year, nearly 70% of cases handled by the program’s 40 to 45 forensic nurses were related to sexual assault.

“Funding from VOCA has allowed us to increase the number of forensic trained nurses in our program to meet the needs of the communities that we serve,” says Reali-Sorrell. She adds that the vision of the Forensic Nursing Program is continued growth and expansion of programming.

Latest round supports pilot program for sexual assault survivors

The VOCA grant for 2019-2020 has been used, in part, to fund a pilot program for survivors of sexual assault. Cleveland Clinic has hired a nurse practitioner who will see patients for follow-up care on Mondays at Lakewood Family Health Center. “The goal is to have a social worker, nurse practitioner and a medical assistant work together as a team,” says Reali-Sorrell. “They will provide extended, one-hour follow-up visits focused on each person’s medical needs.”

Follow-up visits are important for continued patient healing. “Our patients have been through a very traumatic experience. They’ve been raped, and then there’s this four-hour exam,” says Reali-Sorrell. “Patients may not retain all the information that has been provided to them at the time of service.” The follow-up appointments will include a medical exam, as well as discussion of the patient’s emotional wellbeing, a dialogue about adherence with HIV medication, information about the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center, guidance for additional follow-up appointments and more.

The pilot program, which was slated to begin in April, has been put on hold temporarily due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But Reali-Sorrell looks forward to the day when her team can begin helping survivors on their continued road to recovery. “It’s important to let patients know that the Cleveland Clinic Forensic Nursing Program is still there for them after discharge,” she says. “Our goal is to provide trauma-informed, patient-centered care across the continuum of our integrated healthcare system.”