Category: Ethics

Prior to the lecture on Human Trafficking, my pre-existing thoughts were mostly based on sex trafficking. I knew there were different forms other than sex trafficking but through the news and social media, I was more aware of sex trafficking. I also was aware of labor work but very native to it still being super prominent today. I had pre-existing thoughts that traffickers considered the person being trafficked as their “property”, but I thought the individuals being trafficked were being paid. I also had a pre-existing thought that every single person that was being trafficked did not know the person trafficking them. On the news, most of the stories stem from women being captured outside of stores or walking on the streets. I was extremely fortunate to be able to listen to the lecture on human trafficking and learn more.

After listening to the lecture on Human trafficking, a lot of my pre-existing assumptions and thoughts were changed. I was shocked to learn that many individuals know their traffickers before being forced into labor. My pre-existing thought that many did not know their traffickers was changed. It saddened me to hear that oftentimes people are forced into trafficking due to drugs or seeking asylum in the United States. My pre-existing thought that sex trafficking was a huge part of the trafficking ring was correct, but I was surprised to learn that human labor is still a huge problem today. Lastly, I never considered that the trafficked person was not being paid at all. After the lecturer talked about the person barely making $5 and then the price of rent, food, and living plus hospital bills, etc., it occurred to me that some individuals, if not all, would never be able to pay off their debts. Trafficking is a huge scheme that I never realized until listening to the lecture on Thursday. I am grateful for being able to learn more about human trafficking and how to monitor for it in the hospital

In the lecture on Thursday, we discussed ways to help determine if someone in the hospital was being used in the form of trafficking and how to help them. In the future, I will bring this knowledge forward and use it if I am ever in the need to do so. I will also be aware of individuals in my hospital especially if there is an individual trained in caring for patients that have been trafficked. I will also understand that the compassion and care that I will bring to all my patients must be extremely apparent when caring for someone that may be involved in a trafficking situation. I know that my care needs to be very thorough because many individuals struggle to open up to someone. Lastly, I know I must accurately document the situation so other individuals caring for the patient understand the situation and provide more help. I am glad I became more aware of human trafficking through this lecture as well as how to provide the best care for individuals in this situation at the hospital.

When the question of what the nurse’s primary roles are during a disaster comes into question, it can be very hard to reflect on what the nurse should do. It can be difficult because, during a terrible situation, a nurse must decide which patients need more care than others. A nurse’s primary roles include knowing the EOP or Emergency Operations Plan and implementing it during a situation. A nurse must know which patients to care for and which require immediate attention. If the nurse is in the hospital when the disaster occurs, they must know who the medical command and triage officer is, this will help the nurse understand their assignment and help the most patients. Nurses must also be aware of the emergency codes at their hospitals to be fully prepared for any disaster that may happen while they are working. During a mass causality event, a nurse must be able to detect a patient’s problem as red, yellow, green, white, or black. After the nurse understands what each patent is tagged as they can care for the most critical patients first. The priorities in any disaster event are to be fast with your care, assess the patient for a pulse, limit treatment to only what the patient needs to survive, maintain the airway, and control bleeding. As a nurse, the priorities during a disaster are to be fast and provide the best care possible for the greatest number of patients.

            In the event of a disaster, nurses may struggle with ethical codes between saving the patient or saving themselves. This topic can be extremely difficult to discuss because the main goal of a nurse is to provide the best care for their patients. I believe that as a nurse, in the event of a natural and man-made disaster, you should prioritize the patients if you are safe and unharmed. If you’re unable to provide the best care to your patients because you have been injured, then it is the nurse’s duty to care for himself or herself. In my opinion, nurses should always prioritize their patients unless they are injured and cannot provide adequate care to their patients.