Correctional nurses must quickly develop a trust relationship with their patients in order to collect accurate data and effectively evaluate symptoms and requests. Yet, many incarcerated persons distrust almost everyone. They may have spent their lives using deceit and coercion to order their world, and so assume others do the same thing. As staff in a correctional facility, nurses are…
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Correctional Nurse Clinical Update: Keep on Person Medication Tips
A patient arrives at the medication window one morning with an empty blister pack of Truvada. It is only ten days since he received a month’s supply. He is evasive initially about why they are already gone. After some questioning, the nurse discovers that Truvada brings a high price on the prison black market as a ‘prevention’ for AIDs. Keep…
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Correctional Nurse Clinical Update: Women’s Health
There has been a significant change in the involvement of women with the criminal justice system over the last 20 years. This has been attributed to greater law enforcement efforts, more stringent drug sentencing laws, and post-arrest reentry barriers that only affect women. Between 1980 and 2019, the number of incarcerated women increased over 700%, from 26,378 (1980) to 222,…
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