1. Identify the clinical experience and describe the events noting the 4 areas of Community Health Nursing: Intake, Chronic Care, Medication Administration, and Episodic Care/Sick Call.2.

Can Nurses care within the walls?

Correctional nurses often work behind the wall ( Detention centers or prisons). Correctional nursing is special, it requires knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will challenge the needs of the vulnerable population while adhering to the boundaries necessary for maintaining security.(Wilper et al., 2009).

Correctional nurses are always known to appear uncaring, rude unfriendly. The internal factors greatly contribute to such behavior. Nurses often find themselves struggling to what they believe is best for their clients, what the clients believe and what the detention center believe is best for the clients. Correction nurses work with clients who believe that their demands have to me met immediately, the clients are noncompliant with medication, treatment and follow up plans. Some clients are violent due to their nature, crimes committed, most of them have mental issues, they are suicidal.

Correction nurses have a challenge of promoting human connection to the inmates so as to provide the best holistic care. This makes it so hard more especially if the nurses come to know of horrible background of some of their clients. They always have to educate themselves about the dignity of their clients as human beings. Unlike the general nurses who may speak soothingly to their patients, correctional nurses work in a culture where security and safety are paramount. The safety is more especially for the public, the inmate population and the staff. According to Wiber et al., 2009, correctional nursing often mandates a paradigm shift for nursing staff who may be accustomed to traditional settings.

Another challenge correction nurses have are the laws which forbid them to enter into relationships with patients. The big deal of Correctional nurses is the inability to advocate for their clients due to the custody laws. It is a challenge for correctional nurses to function professionally within the limits of their profession. (Wilper et al., 2009) Nurses who form relationships outside of therapeutic relationships put themselves, coworkers, custody stuff, and even inmate in potential danger.

Correctional nurses need to demonstrate genuine caring to their clients by: listening attentively to their clients while maintain a therapeutic relationship, speak in terms the client understand and not to use the medical complicated terms, be non-judgmental and this done by trying not to find out about the client’s crime. One of the nurses expressed the challenges she has encountered as a correctional nurse. She had find her own way of coping with the challenges through the in service education which the detention facility offers.

References

Wilper, A., Wool handler, S., Boyd, J., Lasser, K., McCormick, D., Bor, D., & Himmelstein, D. (2009). The Health and Health Care of US Prisoners: Results of a Nationwide Survey. American Journal Of Public Health, 99(4), 666-672. doi: 10.2105/ajph.2008.144279