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Removing Judgement and Stereotypes

A 19-year-old named John arrived at the emergency room by ambulance after a single vehicle crash – he hit a tree and wasn’t wearing a seat belt.

Upon arrival, he was anxious and uncomfortable. He had an obvious deformity to his right ankle. John felt scared, uncertain of what his injury was and who would care for him.

Instead of assuming the worst and pre-judging him as a drunk driver, nurses in the ER gently attended to John’s injury and asked him what happened. He told them that he swerved to avoid hitting a dog in the road, and he felt terrible for wrecking the family car.

Later, tests showed John’s blood alcohol level was zero, and his urine toxicology showed no drug use. Trauma-informed care by the nurses helped John focus on healing his physical wounds while not adding additional stress to the situation.

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