Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center

News and Announcements:

National "Behind the Scenes" Award

Jane Friona, MHSA, executive director of Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center (AHEC), has been named the recipient of the 2019 Behind the Scenes Award from the Emergency Nurses Association (ENA). This national award recognizes an individual who has made significant contributions to promote ENA’s mission of advocating for patient safety and excellence in emergency nursing practice. Friona will receive the award October 1, 2019, during the Emergency Nursing 2019 conference in Austin, Texas.

“As the executive director of the Southwest Indiana AHEC, Jane has an excellent understanding of rural health care in Indiana, as well as the professional development needs of health care professionals,” said Dr. Ann White, dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions at the University of Southern Indiana, which serves as host for Southwest Indiana AHEC. “Under her leadership, USI’s annual Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) training has expanded to ensure nurses working in rural and/or underserved communities in Indiana are offered the education and clinical trainings necessary to care for victims of sexual assault.”

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Apply now to be an AHEC Scholar!

Applications are currently being accepted for the AHEC Scholars Program. AHEC Scholars is a community healthcare fellowship program that prepares students in the final two years of an accredited health professions program to more effectively enter the health professions workforce. Applicants should have a strong interest in providing care to those living in rural and medically-underserved communities across Indiana. For details, visit the AHEC Scholars web page.

Download the AHEC Scholars Flyer

Welcome to our new team member!

Angie Morris, BSN, RN, SANE-A, SANE-P, EMT, joins the Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center as the Indiana SANE Training Project Coordinator. She came to the discipline of forensic nursing in 2014. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Social & Behavioral Science with minors in Sociology and Criminal Justice from Indiana University and a bachelor of science in nursing from Marian University, where she graduated with honors.

Prior to becoming a nurse, Angie worked for nearly 13 years in various roles within the criminal justice and legal field and served as a program director for the State of Indiana. Angie has experience as a forensic nurse examiner in the Emergency Department of a metropolitan level one trauma center, providing services to both adult and pediatric patients. Angie has served as a forensic nurse on hundreds of cases, provided expert and witness testimony in courtrooms, educated and precepted new forensic nurses and secured hundreds of thousands of dollars in grant awards to aid victims of sexual assault. 

Angie is a member of the Emergency Nurses Association, Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing, and the Academy of Forensic Nursing. She has served as the Forensic Committee Chair for the Indiana Emergency Nurses Association since 2017. 

About the Indiana SANE Training Project: Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center (AHEC), hosted by the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville, Indiana, received a three-year grant in September 2018 from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to expand professional development opportunities for Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) nurses practicing in rural and/or underserved communities in Indiana. The Indiana SANE Training Project will collaborate with existing didactic courses (both adult/adolescent and pediatric/adolescent) to provide funding for targeted nurses to participate in these trainings. In addition, the project will expand clinical training opportunities for nurses to improve clinical competence and confidence to ensure high quality forensic medical care to victims of sexual assault. 

The project will work toward three primary goals: Increasing evidence-based, effective training of SANEs and forensic nurses working in rural and/or underserved communities to ensure competence in the care of sexual assault victims; Supporting professional development of forensic nurses in rural and/or underserved communities in Indiana; and Improving the collection of data related to SANE programming in Indiana to guide future decision-making and programming.

For More Information: Contact Angie Morris at ammorris2@usi.edu or call 317-908-6258 to be involved with the Indiana SANE Training Project.

Learn about the upcoming SANE Training at USI, March 4-8, 2019.

Welcome, AHEC Scholars!

Southwest Indiana Area Health Education Center met the very first group of AHEC Scholars on September 20, 2018.

Students with an interest in rural or underserved healthcare who are currently enrolled in a health professions degree or certificate program (two years from program or degree completion) were eligible to apply for this program. This includes (but is not limited to) students in medical, dental, pharmacy, nurse practitioner, nursing, physician assistant, social work, physical therapy, occupational therapy, public/population health and other allied health programs.

AHEC Scholars will be involved for two academic years, completing 40 hours of didactic education and 40 hours of community-based, experiential learning with SWI-AHEC team members.

AHEC Legislative Breakfast

 
AHEC Connects Youth to Careers