It is that time of year! I love starting the holiday season with a day of thanks for all our blessings. It is a time to be thankful. No matter how dire the circumstances, we can find something to be grateful for.

Time To Be Thankful

Here is my correctionalnurse.net list of thanks:

• Correctional Nurses: Of course correctional nurses top the list for a blog like this! Nursing is hard work in any setting. Nurses working in jails and prison do amazing things with little resources and challenging spaces. Our patients do not always appreciate the effort and sometimes work against us. The rewards are not always thank-yous from our patient’s families and many wonder why we do it. But, correctional nursing is as much a calling as a career and so many would not do anything else. Thank you!
• Correctional Physicians: I have worked in a variety of specialties in my 25+ years as a nurse. I have been employed by teaching hospitals and community hospitals, by corporations and by colleges. Hands down, correctional physicians are the best medical colleagues I have ever worked alongside. There is something very earthy about working behind bars. Most medical professionals don’t have attitude and don’t expect preferences. It is refreshing to see collegiality and collaboration work in health care.
• Custody Officers: Yeah, some officers don’t understand us or  ‘get’ the therapeutic relationship ‘thing’ that correctional nurses need with their inmate-patients. But, so many do and these professionals keep us safe in our work everyday. Hats off to our officer partners.
• The Internet: Without the wonders of the WWW, you and I would probably never have met and never had an opportunity to network around our very specialized field of nursing. I am grateful for that connection and for every one of you who read this blog and leave comments. I look forward to another great year together.
• Advocacy Groups: I know they can make our lives crazy and living under a court order or consent decree is no picnic. But, advocacy groups have made improvements in correctional healthcare by making visible some of the situations we, as nurses, know need improved. I am grateful that there are people in the free world that care about our patients, too.
• Being with Family: Thanksgiving is often a time to gather with loved ones. Many of our patients are alone and lonely. Connection and relationship are major elements of a healthy life. I hope you give your family members an extra hug this holiday and remember our patients who won’t be able to do that.

Photo Credit: © Strakovskaya – Fotolia.com