Director for Digital Health Sexual Assault Assessment Program
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Little Rock, AR
Sherrie Searcy is the Director for University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Institute for Digital Health & Innovation (IDHI) Sexual Assault Assessment Program (TeleSANE) with the mission to bring SANE expertise to every hospital in the state of Arkansas. She currently directs both the DOJ-funded TeleSANE and the HRSA-funded TeleSANE Training Program projects.She played a role in the application of two awarded grants to supports the mission to increase access to sexual assault care and medical-forensic education. Sherrie has been a registered nurse for 15 years while spending 12 years of her career working as an emergency department nurse at a level-1 trauma center where her SANE path began. She has spent the vast majority of her career caring for patients post sexual assault. In November of 2016, Sherrie developed and launched the sexual assault treatment protocol and order set to positively influence high standards of care for all patients that arrive to the UAMS Emergency Department post sexual assault. She has a publication in the prestigious HIV Medicine journal related to the successes of this implementation. Sherrie also provides the emergency department’s annual medical-forensic educational foundation for nurses and physicians to aid in clinician confidence and improved patient prognosis and experiences. She serves on the committee against rape for the Arkansas Commission on Child Abuse, Rape and Domestic Violence and is a guest speaker for the annual conference on topics of sexual assault related to evidence collection, treatment options, and hospital protocol. Her peers voted her one of the “Great 100 Nurses in Arkansas' ', “Resource Nurse of the Year” in 2017, and “40 Nurse Leaders under 40” in 2021. She has her BSN degree from University of Arkansas at Little Rock and a BA in chemistry from Arkansas State University-Jonesboro. She aspires to improve the prognosis of mental and physical health for victims by providing holistic treatment options throughout the state of Arkansas through supporting community providers. She plans to continue this mission to influence equity of care in the state of Arkansas for victims of sexual assault. Sherrie was voted the President-elect of the Arkansas Forensic Nurses Association in efforts to have influence on the state of Arkansas’ care standards while increasing the networking among SANEs. She loves being part of a people that is the light among the darkness by providing hope, encouragement, and compassion at a pivotal moment in someone's life.
