Correctional Nursing: Care vs. Safety

Corrections can be a hard and often times a difficult environment to practice good healthcare delivery.  In my previous blog I defined what a corrections nurse is.  He/She wears many hats in the medical department.  The corrections nurse also wears another hat in the security department.  There are myths that corrections can be an unsafe working environment, especially for non-custody staffy.  Nurses learn during school in Nursing 101 that safety comes first; however, corrections brings a new meaning to the word.  Safety has to be a priority at all times in a correctional setting.  That same safety sometimes outweighs the delivery of care.  For correctional staff, including nurses safety becomes a way of life.  Some practice issues include:  Carry all keys, radios with your pens, needles, medicines on your person, setting appropriate touch boundaries while performing assessments, demonstrating professional language when transmitting and receiving information, and providing care to patient while restrained. All of these challenges, make it difficult for nurses to provide care within the confines of custody.  Please share your thought and let us know if you have found the above practice issues to be true?