[The introduction and inspiration to a sexual assault nurse examiner in forensic nursing].

A number of regulations concerning women and children have been introduced recently in Taiwan, and those regulations have improved the safety for women and children. But there remain problems as far as evidence gathering for medical and forensic purposes is concerned, giving rise to continuing difficulties in enforcing the regulations. Sexual assault nurse examiners (SANEs) perform one of several recognized forensic nursing roles. The position of SANE was developed to improve medical care for persons who have been sexually assaulted. The SANE education program combines the roles of nursing/medicine, law enforcement, prosecution, and advocacy to provide services involving both compassion and comprehensive medical-legal evaluation by a specially trained professional who has the experience to anticipate their needs during this time of crisis. This paper introduces SANEs in forensic nursing, discusses the way forensic nursing is conducted and introduces Taiwan's SANE training program for sexual assault victims.