Enhancing Emergency Department Response to Human Trafficking through Staff Education and Training

Background: Human Trafficking is a public health crisis internationally (Department of Homeland Security, 2022). Many victims seek medical care during their captivity in the ED (Janssen & Steinour, 2020). ED RNs are uniquely positioned to recognize and advocate. Providing these RNs with targeted education on HT can change the current practice gap and improve ED response. Purpose: The purpose of this quality improvement project is to increase Emergency Department (ED) clinical nurses' knowledge of recognizing signs of human trafficking (HT) and strategies to address suspected HT in the ED. Methods: Participants were ED-registered nurses (RNs) at Banner Ironwood Medical Center (BIMC). A pre- and post-survey using Qualtrics was embedded in the educational presentation that measures ED RN’s confidence, ability, and knowledge related to HT identification and response in the Emergency Department. Results: The educational intervention improved RN confidence and ability, as well as knowledge of human trafficking recognition and response. The sample size was (n=3). Overall knowledge accuracy increased from 66.7% pre-intervention to 100% post-intervention, representing a 33.3% improvement. Confidence/ability scores also increased from M=2.89 (SD=0.77) to M=3.94 (SD=0.60). Conclusions: A brief targeted educational intervention improved ED RN staff knowledge, confidence, and ability in recognizing and responding to human trafficking. Findings support the integration of a focused, trauma-informed training into routine ED education to strengthen clinical readiness and enhance early identification of trafficking victims.

Name thesis:degree_name

D.N.P.

Level thesis:degree_level

doctoral

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Graduate College

Grantor dc:publisher

The University of Arizona.

Year dc:date.issued

2025

Author dc:creator

• Crawford, Jessica Holst

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Gallagher, Shawn P.

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Edmund, Sara J.
• Robinson, Kristen

• Emergency Department
• Human Trafficking
• Staff Education

Statement dc:rights

• Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction, presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10150/679369

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:repository.arizona.edu:10150/679369