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Nurse Channels Past Into Helping Sexual Assault Victims

Monday, October 25, 2004 - Nancy Nealy has an affinity with sexual assault victims.  The 49-year-old Greenview Regional Hospital nurse said she has been the victim of sexual assault three different times.

When I was 5 years old, I was assaulted by the school janitor,” she said. “In 1987, I was raped by a person I knew while my children were visiting their dad. I lived out in the middle of nowhere and didn’t think about answering the door. He pushed his way in.  I had to go to work the next morning and I finally reported it. I didn’t deserve that, no matter that I had dated him before,” he said. “Police picked him up, but his parents bailed him out in four hours. It was dropped when it went to court.”

The third time, a man she knew, drugged her drink in 1991, she said.  "I guess he didn’t think I remembered,” she said.

Nealy said her outlook on life changed after each assault.  “You feel dirty,” she said “You feel like you did something that caused it.”

Nealy decided she wanted to do something to reach out to other victims, so she became a sexual assault nurse examiner in Warren County’s sexual assault response team - which brings together law enforcement officers, rape and sexual assault victims’ advocates and certified SANEs to streamline the process of assessing the victim’s condition and investigating the crime.

“We want to give the best treatment for sexual assault,” she said.

“Victims are brought directly back to the room and cared for. They don’t have to wait.”

Nealy worked at The Medical Center at Franklin’s emergency room for seven months before going to Greenview, where she has worked for two years.

“I love taking care of people,” she said. “I love working with patients and my co-workers.”

Nealy said she always knew she wanted to be a nurse. It wasn’t until she divorced that she went to Western Kentucky University and earned an associate’s degree in nursing.

“I had four children and worked and went to school full time,” she said. “It was hard.”

Nealy became interested in becoming a SANE after fellow SANE Fannie Carver told someone at Greenview about it. An opportunity for Nealy to receive SANE training in Lexington came up a couple of months ago.

There, she learned various ways of helping victims, from photographing bruises and bites to collecting DNA from alleged perpetrators.

“We can collect DNA for up to 96 hours, but someone who has been sexually assaulted can still come in and report it later than that,” she said. “We can test for pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases. They can report it to the police and go to Hope Harbor for counseling.”

Nealy said she wants to continue to work with sexual assault victims.

She feels able to cope thanks to the love of her family, which includes four children and five grandchildren, with one more on the way.

“I want justice for the victims. I’m still a whole person, but some people don’t cope as well,” she said. “My job is very rewarding. I know I’ll be able to help relate to the victim and be kind and compassionate to the person.”

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