GAINESVILLE, Fla. (WCJB) – A newly minted doctor of nursing practice from the University of Florida's College of Nursing program said she never imagined her program would save multiple human trafficking victims in just three months.

Katelyn Watts said she was encouraged by the results of her project but was still saddened by the prevalence of the problem.

Watts said she hopes her project, a template for a screening tool to identify potential victims of human trafficking, will help combat the growing problem. Tens of thousands of children and adults are trafficked in human beings in the United States each year

“You see the posters and you feel bad, but you don’t think it’s in your backyard,” Watts said. “But it is like that. It's happening to children more and more often. In many cases it is a family member who is trafficking.”

With guidance from faculty from the UF College of Nursing, Baptist Health and EPIC Systems, Watts developed the template for healthcare professionals to work in the EPIC system to assess hospitalized patients. The information entered into the system sets clues that can identify a potential human trafficking victim.

“Observation is a critical component,” Watts said. “Observe how the potential victim behaves, what their hygiene is, what type of tattoos they have and whether they have a cell phone. All of these can be clues. That's why education is so important. Part of the investigation focused on the interaction with the suspected trafficker. We spent a lot of time using scripts and practicing what to do if an escalation occurs.”

During the project's lifespan in late spring, nurses identified five victims, including children, and police arrested three human trafficking victims in North Florida.

The screening tool is available in the EPIC system to any provider with access to use it.

Watts recently began her DNP career in the pediatric emergency department at Baptist Health in Jacksonville and will continue her work fighting human trafficking.

“It’s something you have to constantly be aware of,” Watts said.

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