Two terms which guide correctional healthcare emerged from case law surrounding the Estelle v GambleSupreme Court ruling. The ruling cited a “deliberate indifference to serious medical need” as a breach of the 8th Amendment barring cruel and unusual punishment. These terms have guided correctional healthcare and the practice of correctional nursing. Once again, I refer heavily to William J. Rold’s…
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Legal History of Correctional Nursing – Part I
Where were you in November, 1976? Maybe not even born yet…but probably not thinking about healthcare in prisons and jails. However, November, 1976 could be deemed the official start of the Legal History of Correctional Nursing. This is the date of the landmark Estelle v Gamble Supreme Court decision which established healthcare as a constitutional right for US inmates based on…
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