Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)

School

Nursing

Advisor

Mary M. Martin

Abstract

Sexual assault, a form of sexual violence, is an egregious crime that continues to be a serious and significant public health problem which affects millions of people each year in the United States and globally. Sexual assault may have lasting and devastating negative physical and emotional consequences. Knowledgeable nurses can have a positive impact on a survivor’s safety and recovery. The purpose of this project was to develop a Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) for nurses who provide the initial care when patients present in the emergency room following sexual assault. The conceptual framework used for this project included Knowle’s Theory of Adult Learning and Benner’s Model of Skill Acquisition. A systematic review of the literature was conducted to determine what evidence is available to identify best practices for development of a quality CPG that addresses sexual assault. A 5-member expert panel on sexual assault rated the CPG using the AGREE II instrument and included 2 professors, 1 psychiatric nurse practitioner, 2 physician assistant forensic examiners, and 1 certified sexual assault victim advocate. The composite scores among the five reviewers ranged from 82.2% to 95.5% across the 6 different domains, with an overall average of 90.1% and 100% agreement to recommend implementation of the CPG at project site with a plan for scheduled CPG updates. The CPG supports positive social change by providing staff nurses who play a vital role as part of the sexual assault response team with necessary evidence-based steps to improve the immediate safety and care for the sexual assault survivor population. This guideline when implemented has an additional benefit to reduce the stress and anxiety among ER staff as well as the survivors of sexual assault.

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