Education Gap in Human Trafficking
By Francine Bono-Neri
Prelicensure preparation for nursing students is incredibly challenging . The amount of content students are responsible for learning is taxing . However , is all pertinent information being covered ? What essential areas of content crucial to clinical practice are not being taught ?
Inconsistently taught in prelicensure RN education , human trafficking ( HT ) content and anti-trafficking measures are paramount to the current and future nursing workforce . HT has a profound intersection with the healthcare sector . However , due to the gap in education , nurses are not prepared to care for this seen yet invisible population ( Bono-Neri & Toney-Butler , 2023 ).
Passion For Anti-Trafficking Efforts
My dedication to the anti-trafficking movement started the day I recognized my failure as a mandated reporter of a 16-yearold client who was being trafficked . Although I had been a nurse for more than 28 years at the time , I never knew what HT was or how to identify it in the clinical setting . Not a day goes by that I do not think about that client . The following is my personal journey .
Working as a clinical instructor for a prelicensure RN program , I would take my assigned nursing students to the clinical site for their pediatric rotation . One day in the Fall 2018 semester , we received a call from the emergency department ( ED ) regarding a 16-year-old female who needed to be admitted for a significant cellulitis . The facility was a large teaching hospital and a level-one trauma center . I assigned one of my students to assist the primary nurse with the admission and pulled in two other students to observe .
Walking into the room with my students , I saw the severe condition of this client . I did everything I could to fight back the tears . I noted lice , numerous intertriginous infections , IV drug marks from head-to-toe , and self-induced cutting marks on her wrists from a suicide attempt the previous year . Her urine toxicity screen came back
positive for multiple illicit substances . In addition , a gentleman was sitting in the guest recliner in her room . He was well-dressed , well-spoken , and twice her age . I thought to myself , “ Who is this person ? How does he know her ? What is the nature of their relationship ?” I knew something wasn ’ t right , but I didn ’ t know what it was . I approached him very professionally and asked if he would explain his relationship to her . He told me that she was a good friend and he was concerned about her health . I knew he wasn ’ t being forthcoming , but I simply thanked him for the information .
In June 2019 , as a board member of American Nurses Association - New York ( ANA-NY ), I was in Washington , D . C . for the ANA Membership Assembly . One of the presenters , Ms . Tammy Toney-Butler , RN ,
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