What Thirty Years Behind the Wall Has Taught Me

When I first began working in correctional healthcare more than thirty years ago, I thought I was coming to care for a unique patient population. I quickly discovered that I was also entering a profession unlike any other.

Correctional nursing has challenged me, humbled me, frustrated me, and inspired me. It has taught me lessons that I never learned in nursing school and could never have learned anywhere else.

It has taught me that the patient standing in front of me is always more important than the assumptions others may make about why they are incarcerated. Every patient deserves to be assessed carefully, treated respectfully, and cared for with dignity. Some of the kindest, funniest, and most grateful people I have met have been patients behind the walls of a correctional facility.

It has taught me that correctional nursing is never practiced in a perfect environment. Resources may be limited. Time is always limited. The unexpected happens almost daily. Yet none of those realities change our professional responsibility to provide safe, ethical nursing care. We do the best we can with the resources available while never losing sight of the standard of nursing care our patients deserve.

It has taught me that no nurse succeeds alone. Some of my greatest teachers have been experienced correctional nurses who quietly shared their knowledge without expecting recognition. Correctional officers have taught me about patience, observation, and teamwork. Patients have taught me resilience, forgiveness, and humility. Every person I have encountered has contributed something to my journey.

It has taught me that some of the most important nursing decisions are not dramatic. They are the quiet decisions made every day—to complete one more reassessment, to ask one more question, to document one more observation, or to advocate for a patient who cannot effectively advocate for themselves. Those decisions rarely make headlines, but they often make all the difference.

Most of all, correctional nursing has taught me that our profession matters. Every day, correctional nurses care for people during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. We relieve suffering, recognize illness, provide hope, protect dignity, and sometimes save lives. Much of that work happens quietly, without public recognition, but it matters, nonetheless.

When people ask me why I have stayed in correctional nursing for more than thirty years, the answer is surprisingly simple.

Because I believe that every patient deserves excellent nursing care, regardless of where they receive it. I also believe that correctional nurses provide that care every day. They come to work determined to make a difference, often under difficult circumstances and with little public recognition. They continue learning, support one another, advocate for their patients, and quietly strengthen our profession one encounter at a time.

Looking back over three decades, I realize correctional nursing has given me far more than I could ever give back. It has shaped the nurse I became, introduced me to extraordinary colleagues and patients, and has given me a career filled with purpose.

If these thirty years have taught me anything, it is this:

Correctional nursing is not simply the place where I have worked.

It is the profession that has shaped who I am as a nurse.

It has been one of the greatest privileges of my professional life.