Inmate Franken was called to medical and told the result of his recent blood test. He is HIV positive. The infectious disease nurse at the medium security prison is now talking to him about what this means and the treatment plan ahead. He nods each time the nurse asks if he understands what she is saying. After 20 minutes, he…
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Responding to Angry Inmates is not that easy for many correctional nurses. During a sick call visit for lower back pain, a patient begins shouting at the nurse that no one is helping him with his pain. “I need something stronger than these baby pills!”, he shouts as he stands up and puts his face in front of the nurse….
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Fran Tompkins, RN, MS, CCHP, CCN/M, is Nurse Training and Education Supervisor for Correct Care Solutions in Nashville, TN. This post is based on the session “Who’s Minding Your Patients? Understanding Licensed and Unlicensed Scopes of Practice” that she presented at the 2015 National Conference on Correctional Health Care in Dallas, TX. Scope of practice can be described as those…
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