Correctional nursing provides health care to people involved in the criminal justice system. Nurses work where clinical care intersects with security, limited resources, and the rights and dignity of people in custody.
Correctional nursing is nursing care provided to clients within the criminal justice system. Settings include jails and prisons, police departments, immigration detention centers, forensic hospital units, correctional hospitals and nursing homes, mental health institutions, and community hospitals caring for patients transferred from correctional settings. Nurses may also serve people on probation or parole and people moving between correctional and community settings.
All flashcards
What is correctional nursing?
Nursing care provided to clients involved in the criminal justice system, across settings such as jails, prisons, detention centers, correctional health facilities, and community transitions.
What was the significance of Estelle v. Gamble?
The 1976 Supreme Court decision established the constitutional obligation to provide health care to people held in government custody.
What are the 11 correctional nursing standards areas?
Ethics; culturally congruent practice; communication; collaboration; leadership; education; evidence-based practice and research; quality of practice; professional practice evaluation; resource utilization; and environmental health.
Why is privacy challenging in correctional health care?
Facility security procedures may require staff oversight or limit private communication, so nurses must protect confidentiality as far as safety and policy permit.
How should a nurse approach a possible request for secondary gain?
Assess the reported concern objectively and base care decisions on clinical need rather than assumptions about the client’s motive.
Quiz questions
What does correctional nursing mean?Answer: Providing nursing care to clients within the criminal justice system.
What did the 1976 decision in Estelle v. Gamble establish?Answer: People in government custody must be provided health care.
Which organization recognized correctional nursing as a specialty in 1985?Answer: The American Nurses Association.
A nurse is told that a client is probably exaggerating symptoms to obtain a more comfortable cell. What is the best initial response?Answer: Assess the client’s symptoms and needs using clinical judgment rather than assuming a motive.
Why can correctional nursing involve ethical tension?Answer: Nurses must protect health and dignity while working within security procedures and facility limitations.
Based on Population Health for Nurses by Jessica Ochs, Sherry L. Roper, Susan M. Schwartz (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.