Megan Lechner, MSN, RN, CNS, SANE-A, SANE-P
Nursing Specialist
International Association of Forensic Nurses

Megan Lechner has been practicing as a nurse for 20 years and as a forensic nurse for 10 years. She earned her MSN and CNS in Forensic became a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner in 2007. Dual board certified as a SANE-A and a SANE-P, she is the clinical manager of Forensic Nurse Examiner Team at Memorial Hospital, University of Colorado Health in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This team provides medical forensic care to more than 1800 patients per year who are victims of violence (sexual assault, intimate partner violence, child abuse, elder abuse, strangulation, human trafficking).

Ms. Lechner serves as the Director of the Colorado SANE/SAFE Project, which provides medical forensic education to healthcare clinicians throughout Colorado. Ms. Lechner also serves as a Principal Investigator for the Women’s Health Study, a national research project seeking to better understand the recovery process after sexual assault. Ms. Lechner provides clinical skills training through Memorial Hospital’s Simulation Laboratory, teaching sexual assault care to clinicians from across the US, with a special emphasis on those working in rural or underserved areas. Ms. Lechner’s work on a national level includes expert testimony consultation and teaching on issues ranging from sexual violence, intimate partner violence, human trafficking and strangulation. Ms. Lechner also serves as an adjunct professor at The University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, developing and teaching forensic nursing courses. In 2012, she served as an international consultant for a USAID project in Swaziland, Africa, mentoring local health care professionals in the care of pediatric rape patients with an emphasis on the prevention of HIV.