Nursing students' perceptions of identifying and managing sex trafficking cases: A focus group study

Abstract

Aim:To explore nursing students’perceptions of the identification and medical careof sex trafficking victims and how to improve the care provided based on the identi-fied barriers.Background:Despite the fact that more than 87% of sex trafficking victims establishcontact with health professionals, their lack of awareness and training hinders theirability to assist victims properly.Methods:A descriptive qualitative study was carried out using 11 focus groups ofnursing students after a simulated case of sex trafficking victim. The analysis ofresults was conducted through content analysis.Results:A total of 110 fourth-year nursing students participated in this study. Afterperforming the data analysis, three main categories emerged: (i) making a health issuevisible, (ii) identifying sex trafficking victims: resources based on evidence-basedpractice, and (iii) educational resources on sex trafficking in nursing degree.Conclusions:Our results show that through clinical simulation, integrating contentregarding the medical care of vulnerable groups can be useful for developing theskills necessary to provide effective care from a trauma-informed approach.Implications for nursing management:Health institutions, senior charge nurses, andother health service managers should be aware of the current need for sex traffickingtraining, structural-level changes, and updated evidence-based guidelines and proto-cols with other service providers and law enforcement to provide high-quality care.