Implementation of an Updated Screening Tool to Identify Human Trafficking Victims in the Emergency Department

Background: Human trafficking is a major illegal industry prevalent in all regions of the United States, including health care settings. All humans are at risk of becoming trafficked because it does not discriminate against age, gender, location, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or education. Often during their enslavement, victims are seen in the emergency department setting but are not identified by health care staff. This can be due to a lack of proper screening questions or nursing staff not being adequately educated on the red flags evident in the presence of human trafficking. Objective: This quality improvement project aimed to develop an updated screening question to identify human trafficking victims within the emergency department. Methods: Nursing staff volunteered to participate and ask an updated screening question to all adult patients during their scheduled shifts. Results: This project successfully identified potential victims by an increase of 59.4% compared to the current screening question in place at this organization. Conclusion/Implications for Nursing: By increasing the education and confidence of the staff, screening can improve the identification of these victims. Unfortunately, most health care settings do not have specific screening tools to identify these victims, leading to many victims leaving the facility without being identified or possible resources being given.