Morgan Fischer’s mission to stop human trafficking started with a chance encounter.

HOUSTON — A Houston nurse is being honored for her groundbreaking work to help victims of human trafficking. That’s a crisis that hits especially close to home. Texas ranks among the highest in the country for trafficking cases.

Nurse Morgan Fischer’s innovative approach to the issue has earned her national recognition.  

Fischer, a labor and delivery nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital, turned a chance encounter with a survivor into a mission.

“After meeting a survivor of human trafficking, volunteering at a clinic where I met other survivors of human trafficking, and hearing their stories, I just knew I had to do something,” she said. 

Fischer got to work training social workers and other healthcare providers to recognize and support trafficking victims. One of the most impactful ideas — placing discreet hotline tabs in patient restrooms.

“It can be really scary to ask for help,” she said. “Not everyone’s comfortable with that at the time, so what we found is really beneficial is having the anti-human trafficking hotline number on pull tabs in our patient restrooms in different discreet areas around the hospital.”

Over the past year, more than 60 tabs have been pulled connecting victims with life-saving resources. Her efforts earned her the 2025 National Magnet Nurse of the Year Award for Transformational Leadership. 

Out of more than five million nurses nationwide, Fischer was one of just five honorees and the only one recognized for transformational leadership.

“Women that are being trafficked are more likely to seek medical conditions when they’re pregnant and have gynecological issues,” said Sharon Burks, Texas Children’s Hospital assistant clinical director. “So that puts us in a really good spot to help identify and help give them resources when it’s needed.”  

Fischer hopes that this award helps spread awareness and sparks conversations among other healthcare teams about how they can help.

So we say congratulations to Morgan Fischer for the incredible work,  really taking a holistic approach to how she can help everybody in her care. Her teammates said that they were crying when they heard the news that she won this award because she was just so deserving.

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