A little background about myself first – I’m a Navy Corpsman with a unit that provides inpatient care to Marines and Sailors. Every once in a while, I provide care in field-environments, such as training exercises and hikes that our Marines conduct. While my position has both slow and exciting days, it’s pretty well-balanced and I’m happy with it.
I typically handle the injuries you’d expect to encounter in an operational unit, such as broken bones, heat exhaustion, sunburns, etc.. However, I had a recent intake that left me disappointed in myself. For the sake of confidentiality, I will only say that I had an individual approach me to make a restricted report after they were raped.
I know my patient was well-taken care of, and they left with both confidence and an ease of mind, but experience tells me that if I felt something was lacking, I could have done better and I’m ashamed of the fact.
I’ve asked the provider I work under, the nurse I work alongside with, as well as our Sexual Assault Prevention & Response coordinator, but most, if not all of our references and literature don’t provide much more insight than I already know.
I don’t work behavioral health, but if anyone can make any recommendations or suggestions for literature, studies, and references, I would greatly appreciate it. It’s my intent to be more understanding and empathetic of my patients, should (God forbid) this ever happen again.
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