Citation

Ross J. J. Perianesth. Nurs. 2020; 35(2): 215-216.

Affiliation

Department of Patient Safety, The Doctors Company, Napa, CA. Electronic address: jackieross@roadrunner.com.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.jopan.2019.11.006

PMID

32247432

Abstract

A young and thin female patient entered the preoperative area accompanied by an older male for repair of an open fracture of her arm. The perianesthesia nurse observed that the patient failed to make any eye contact and had healing bruises on her arms and cheek. The nurse began to ask the patient about her history, but the older male interrupted and provided most of the history. The nurse requested that the older male leave the room so the patient could change into her gown, but he forcefully said he wanted to stay. The nurse asked if the patient was okay with that; the patient silently nodded and did not protest. The nurse assisted the patient with the gown and noticed a barcode tattoo. The nurse was alarmed and realized this patient had many red flags as a possible human trafficking victim.

Language: en