Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses and the Sex Trafficking Pandemic

Abstract

Nurses are in a unique position to treat survivors of human trafficking and are most likely to encounter patients who have been involved in the sex trade. In particular, psychiatric-mental health nurses can be effective because they are educated to think of clients holistically and can provide both short-term medical intervention and long-term psychotherapy. Additionally, they can recognize and refer these individuals for medical treatment. The purpose of this article is to present an overview of sex trafficking and what psychiatric-mental health nurses can do to treat survivors.