The Iowa Attorney General’s Office is proposing an update to state rules that outline the standards for nurses who are certified to conduct sexual assault examinations — and those who are not certified to collect rape kit evidence would no longer be eligible for state reimbursement for conducting the exam. Susan Krisco, the Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice, says the goal is to ensure any evidence collected is admissible in court.
Krisko says an emergency room doctor typically spends between 20 and 25 minutes with a patient, while an exam to collect evidence of a sexual assault takes three to four hours.
Amy Campbell, a spokesperson for the Iowa Nurses Association, says the standards for nurse examiners outlined in the new rules are appropriate.
Attorney General Brenna Bird is asking legislators to raise the reimbursement rate for nurses who are certified to conduct sexual assault exams and, for the first time, provide mileage reimbursement. Campbell says that’s important to the Nurses Association because the current 200-dollar payment is too low.
To get certified as a sexual assault exam nurse, a nurse must complete 40 hours of training which can be completed online or in person.
