Melody, RETA’s Administrative Nurse, recently trained our staff and mobile advocates to prepare us for STD testing. She went through everything from answering phone calls and social media requests, to scheduling appointments, how tests will run and how they fit in with our pregnancy testing and ultrasound.

STD testing officially began on June 17. When clients come in for an STD test or for a pregnancy test and request an STD test as well, we are able to use the urine sample to test for gonorrhea and chlamydia. (We’ll continue to expand our STD services to include men and other STDs in the future.) The test is then shipped to a lab, where it’s processed and within 48 hours, we receive the results electronically to let our clients know if they are positive or negative. We want to use this service as a way to educate our clients about the importance of sexual risk avoidance.

Speaking earlier of training, Darcy and Kim, RETA’s two new staff nurses completed their ultrasound training this week. In July, they will be ready to begin doing ultrasounds on their own. This is huge as we’ll be able to see more clients in our office and on our mobile unit.