By Spencer Sterritt

Expanding health program helping sexual assault victims in Oceanside

Sep 29, 2017 | 11:11 AM

OCEANSIDE — If a sexual or domestic assault victim finds themselves in need of medical care, nurses in Oceanside can now help.

The 27 forensic nurse examiners at Nanaimo Regional General Hospital are now on-call for the Oceanside Health Centre from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. After hours, people will still need to come to Nanaimo.

The nurses support and provide care to patients while also directing them to other services they might need.

Program coordinator Aimee Falkenberg, who has been a forensic nurse examiner since 2008, told NanaimoNewsNOW having the examiners available for the Oceanside region fills gaps in care.

“I think when things like this come up, people ask ‘Is it really happening in our community? Is this something we’re really seeing?’ It can sometimes appear quite scary or some people weren’t aware sexual assault, violence and intimate partner violence does exist in their community.”

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Falkenberg said having more health sites offering the service means victims have a choice of where they’re treated, which is important for reasons other than saving some gas for travel.

“Some of the patients will come into a different emergency department for safety concerns or concern they know someone in the hospital that’s in their community, or knows someone who works at the hospital who could be providing care.”

Falkenberg said in the small communities dotting the east coast of Vancouver Island, people feeling shame or worry about being recognized is a real challenge the health system is grappling with.

The nurses also act as a link between victims and the community, such as Haven Society or physicians, for further help.

spencer@nanaimonewsnow.com

On Twitter: @spencer_sterrit