Dr. Kathleen Thimsen and the Goldfarb School of Nursing are partnering with CATE to launch a new Healthcare Initiative. The initiative will focus on educating healthcare professionals on how to identify, address and care for victims of human trafficking. As we move forward with the Healthcare Initiative, look for updates on other partners.

About Dr. Kathleen Thimsen: Dr. Thimsen has demonstrated her expertise, leadership, training, and dedication in the successful implementation of research projects, and in designing new programs that build capacity and are created to be sustainable, impactful interventions. Kathleen has extensive experience in healthcare, nursing and forensics that has advanced education and skills training to address identified gaps in practice. Most of Dr. Thimsen’s work is based in community based participatory methodologies and is intentionally crafted in focus-action research and intervention development. As a healthcare/nursing professional, her career’s work has focused on vulnerable population health and injury. Her doctoral work targeted identification of elder abuse victims in the emergency department.

Other research and practice change programs have included gap and asset assessments at the systems level that incorporated strategic interventions to apply evidence-based clinical practice improvement to improve care and outcomes.

Dr. Thimsen was instrumental in laying the groundwork in creating a victim focused collaborative network in 2015 that is an interdisciplinary and inter-professional community, academic and hospital-based network. The network provides research, care, policy and other programs. Programs are identified by standing work groups that design, develop and implement programs, policies, protocols and procedures that address the population needs of human trafficking victims at a regional level. As the lead on the healthcare work group she has provided education and training to over 1600 healthcare professionals on comprehensive training on pre-, peri- and post- hospital care encounters for victims. In addition, she has provided consultation, and facilitation between community-based providers and hospital system emergency departments to create safe and appropriate referral for after care that addresses short and long-term tiered programming aimed at achieving survivorship and recovery.

Victim-centered care involves the application of trauma informed care that operates using a strength-based model for recovery. She has contributed to forensic research and practice gap studies that have been disseminated at a local, regional, national and international level. She is also a co-founder of the Academy of Forensic Nursing and the Academy of Forensic Nursing Certification Board. Dr. Thimsen has experience in budget projections, administration, staffing and oversight in research and programs maintenance and sustainability.

Her strengths are focused action that includes collaboration, organization and planning, as well as ongoing monitoring with dedication to continuous improvement. The Coalition Against Trafficking and Exploitation is honored to have her expertise and focus as we continue to create a coordinated community response across the state.