My Favorite Correctional Nursing Video: Happy Nurses Week!
For my final Nurses Week post, I’d like to share my favorite video about correctional nursing. Enjoy!……and be proud of what you do!
Featured Video: The Charm of Nursing
Great new video from Johnson & Johnson’s Campaign for Nursing’s Future. A tribute to the art and science of our profession. Celebrate who you are this week – contemplate the nurse you will be as you move forward in your profession.
Trauma Informed Programs
An example of a trauma informed substance abuse program
Sex Offender Rehabilitation
This video describes the sex offender treatment program in Washington State. 95% of sex offenders are eventually released back into the community. There are several current treatment models in use as described by this Canadian source. Treatment is needed to reduce recidivism, but sex offenders are usually the most vulnerable to inmate on inmate violence and entering a program could elevate visibility in the inmate population. Although sex offender treatment is controversial, according to Washington State Corrections, those who complete a program are twice as likely not to re-offend. What do you think? Are sex offenders part of your inmate population? What have been your experiences? Share your thoughts in the comments section of this post.
Prison Intake Nursing
This video is a realistic presentation of nursing practice in a prison setting. Correctional health care is a nurse-run system. Much of the medical interventions and prescribing are done by nurse practitioners. Individuals in the corrections system have lived hard lives and can appear 10 years older than their chronologic age. Up to 40% can have Hepatitis C due to drug use.
Nurses in this video explain some of their personal safety habits like being next to the door in exam rooms and leaving a room at any sign of escalation.
Nurses also mention the tension that can sometimes develop in relationships with custody officers who can think that the standard care provided by nurses to inmates is ‘being too nice”.
Finally, the video presents a positive nursing perspective toward the inmates when one of the nurses explains that she does not like to know what the convictions are for her patients. She likes to treat them as anyone who might come to a private practice.
Watch this 10 minute video clip of a Discovery program and let me know what you think in the comments section of this post.
Improving Medical Care – Chino Experience
This brief video news clip of Health Care at Chino Prison Facility in California underscores some of the challenges of delivering health care behind bars. Note the medical records issues. Many jails and prisons still rely on paper charts but do not have enough staff to keep up with the filing, thus jeopardizing care delivery. What other challenges do you see in the video presentation?
Medical Compassionate Release Debate
A short video showing various sides of the issue of compassionate release of medically disabled inmates in the California Prison System. Do you think inmates with severe disease should be moved to community facilities for care? Post your thoughts in the comments section.



