I think before the lecture, when I thought about human trafficking, I almost exclusively thought of sex trafficking. I was certainly aware of other forms like forced labor or child soldiers, but I hadn’t connected them to the umbrella term of human trafficking. The lecture did a good job of talking about human trafficking in its many forms, and challenged my preconceived notions of what a victim and perpetrator of human trafficking looks like. I appreciate that Shaun brought some recent examples with migrants being displaced to Martha’s Vineyard, I thought it was timely, and it coupled well with the news segments we watched before class. I will admit I fell into the group of people who wrongly assumed human trafficking happened far away from southern Maine, and now I have a better idea of what human trafficking looks like in my community. In the future I would like to learn more about delivering trauma informed care, I think a SANE nurse would provide great insight on that.
I work at as an ED tech back home at UMass Memorial in Worcester. One of the triage questions that the nurses ask is if the patient feels safe at home. I liked feeling that I was working within a hospital that cared about our patient’s life outside of the hospital, even if they were coming for some emergency issue. I was surprised when Shaun said that was his least favorite question. I’m sure nurses and hospitals who ask this question are doing it out of concern and from a caring mindset, but it’s interesting that in his experience that question is inadequate. I would like to take a better assessment for risk into my future nursing practice.
