Abstract
Sexual trafficking (ST) is prevalent in the United States and Alabama (Polaris, 2019). According to U.S. law, any person under the age of 18 who is induced to perform a commercial sex act is a victim of ST regardless of whether there is force, fraud, or coercion. Once free from trafficking, up to 88% of victims report that they had been in contact with a healthcare provider while being trafficked. Of those, few reported being questioned regarding their ensnarement by traffickers, and more than half were treated in emergency care settings (Polaris, 2019). Most victims report ST began between the ages of 15 and 17, with the grooming process beginning years earlier (Polaris, 2019). Because patients rarely self-identify as victims of sex trafficking, nurses in the emergency department need to be at the forefront of screening ST victims and reporting pediatric cases appropriately. Existing evidence suggests that to rescue victims of ST, healthcare providers must receive additional training, develop and implement an age-appropriate screening tool, and incorporate a protocol for the rescue of these patients. The planned project included providing ST education, preparing for the implementation of a validated six-question adolescent screening tool, and developing a protocol for the care of ST victims seen in the University of Alabama Health Care Gardendale Freestanding Emergency Department in Gardendale, Alabama.
Sigma Membership
Unknown
Lead Author Affiliation
Samford University, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
Type
DNP Capstone Project
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
N/A
Research Approach
N/A
Keywords:
Sex Trafficking, Adolescents, Screening Tools
Advisor
Cortes, Cyndi
Second Advisor
Wallace, H. Franklin
Degree
DNP
Degree Grantor
Samford University
Degree Year
2022
Recommended Citation
Elliott, Elizabeth and Ison, Tracy, "Adolescent sex trafficking screening tool in an emergency department" (2022). Group: Samford University Moffett & Sanders School of Nursing. 155.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/samford/155
Rights Holder
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All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
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Review Type
None: Degree-based Submission
Acquisition
Self-submission
Date of Issue
2022-06-13
Full Text of Presentation
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