In general, nurses are responsible for numerous things from dispensing medication to keeping a watchful eye on the patient’s condition. This also includes keeping all paperwork and records up-to-date and being the line of communication between the doctor, the patient and the family involved. At times, nurses are even responsible for providing instruction and overseeing the work of aides and assistants. Nurses also provide care beyond the physical healthcare work they do. For instance, nurses offer emotional support for the patient and his/her family. These dedicated healthcare professionals also ensure patients and their families understand the illness, how to manage the illness (any special dietary needs or medications), and finally, of …show more content…
Upon watching the video on the Angola Prison Hospice I became more aware of the importance of the role of nurses/healthcare professionals in this particular setting. The healthcare professionals and volunteers of the hospice program play an imperative role in providing not only care in terms of temporary pain relief or for terminal patients, daily medications, but also care in terms of humanizing the patients in the prison; not treating them in regards to their crimes, but treating them with the same morality and thoughtfulness that they would any patient and Roach’s 6 C’s serves as a foundation to those behaviors. As a volunteer or healthcare professional in the Angola Prison Hospice I would implement the use of Roach’s 6 C’s through my everyday behaviors at work. Roach’s first “C” is compassion. We are all human beings and regardless of whether one is a patient in a prison hospital or a patient in a children’s hospital, we are naturally inclined to put ourselves in that person’s shoes and relate to their pain. By showing empathy towards my patient and their family, that enables me to build a rapport with my patient and his/her family and open a line of trust and communication between us. Relating to my patient and understanding his/her pain and discomfort allows me to place myself in a position to further express my compassion. I would refrain from judging my patient on the nature of his/her crimes because I personally, believe in forgiveness.
One of the responsibilities is doing an admission if the admission nurse is not available to do so. When doing an admission you have to make sure that you have all of the information that is needed for insurance and to make sure the patient is going to get all of the care that they are going to need to help keep them comfortable. Another responsibility is making sure that all of the patients have all of the medication that they need to help keep them comfortable. Keeping patients comfortable until they pass away is what hospice does. Another responsibility that nurses have to do is to make sure that all of the charts are up-to-date and to check for any changes in the patients.
“Nursing encompasses autonomous and collaborative care of individuals of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings. Nursing includes the promotion of health, prevention of illness, and the care of ill, disabled and dying people. Advocacy, promotion of a safe environment, research, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and education are also key nursing roles” (ICN 2010)
(Polit & Beck, 2010). As nursing is person-centred and relies on a multidisciplinary team approach it has to take into account the care setting, patient predilections, clinical judgement and best available evidence. (Holland & Rees, 2010).
Each day, men, women and children are put behind bars suffer from lack of access to medical health care. Chronic illnesses go untreated, emergencies are ignored, and patients with serious illnesses fail to receive needed care. A small failure to medical care can turn in to death of an inmate if left untreated. Prisoners are humans whether inmates or not, with normal health issues or diseases. Even a common cold is an example of an illness that needs treatment. A lot with what is wrong with the health care system today, in the United States deals with money. Within prisons, it is an entire different story. The mission of medical care is to diagnose, comfort and cure. These goals are not being achieved within the prison system. Care needs to be given to every inmate, even the most despised and violent one among them all.
The American Nursing Association describes nursing as the profession or practice of providing care for the sick and infirm. They say it is the duty of nurses to protect, promote and optimize the health and abilities of a patient. It is also the duty of those in the profession of nursing to prevent illness and injury, facilitate healing, and alleviate suffering through the diagnosis and treatment of human response. Nurses also advocate for the care of patients families. Nurses play a very important role in healthcare and they are the primary caregiver for patients.
To begin, the main problem running amuck at the Dade Correctional Institution is the systematic abuse of the inmates by the security guards in the Transitional Care Unit. This problem exists at many different levels, ranging from individual to possibly system-wide levels. For example, many counselors and technicians witnessed first hand the abuse given out by the guards and very few came forward to offer their testimony. Also, many officials and higher ranking superiors would actively advise those who did come forward to remain silent, out of possibly retaliation from the guards.
The average incarceration of prisoners per year is 2,418,352, however more than half of those prisoners are not provided the proper care needed for their survival. (Cooper, Sabol, West 1) Several inmates are put in unjust situations and living conditions through prison systems that majorly effect their everyday lives. Many of these issues pose threats to the prisoners but are preventable through change in the system. Prison systems around the world are flawed and need to be reworked. Inmates are constantly surrounded by an unhealthy environment full of sexual assault, lack of good health, and unfair treatment based upon disability.
Researchers determined many barriers in healthcare were largely due to limited visiting times with healthcare providers and practice strategies that only addressed one problem per visit (Loeb, Penrod, Hollenbrak, & Smith, 2013). This resulted in prisoners who felt hopeless, ashamed, and embarrassed about their condition and had a negative effect on establishing rapport with healthcare providers. Many inmates were hesitant to advocate for themselves and believed the healthcare team would never advocate for them either. The lack of knowledge expressed by inmates in combination with decreased trust in nurses and doctors are the key characteristics that triggered poor healthcare decisions. Loeb et al. (2013) suggests the lack of trust between patients in correctional facilities and the healthcare team is the primary reason inmates delay care in prison, thus causing increased illnesses and decreased quality care. The authors also explored perceptions of the public regarding humane care of prisoners and found inconsistent beliefs. Many people agreed that humane care is the morally correct thing to do while others believed prisoners deserve the treatment, suffering, and pain they receive in prison. Since the latter view is not consistent with the core values of
Having poor heath care within the prison system is something that is very dangerous. It can lead to things such as accidental deaths, worsening pre-existing conditions, and conditions occurring that could have been prevented if the proper care was
Every human being in this world is born with some rights and some obligations. One of the chief right that every individual must have is the right to life saving health care. Humanity dictates that every individual regardless of their place and position in society, their occupation, color, caste of creed. Therefore even prisoners deserve top class health facilities and to ensure the provision of these is the duty of the government. There are many governmental agencies in the world that look after the health of prisoners, one such example is the WHO, others include National Commission on Correctional Health Care in the US, Her Majesty's Prison Service/ department of health, National Health Service in UK, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation etc. the paper will analyze the work of one such organization and its laws, rules, as well as its processes of accreditation, certification and authorization.
(2013) noted, “Crowded prisons violate constitutional standards, decrease access to programs and services, create major administrative problems, and increase violence” (p. 472). Prison overcrowding is a major concern and in most cases, it is considered as a cruel and unusual punishment according to the Eighth Amendment (Newman & Scott, 2012). Studies from Newman and Scott (2012) further revealed that “prisons are totalitarian and repressive institutions where structures to support responses with human rights of patients are nonexistent or ineffective” (p. 550). Medical and mental health professionals constantly face ethical dilemmas when encountered with pressures to fulfill medical objectives rather than patient
Nurses provide excellent patient care, teach patients about health conditions, and give advice and support to patients and their families. Nurses have a variety of duties. They must monitor and record patient symptoms, take vital signs, watch patients diet and physical activity, supervise less skilled nurses, and order and interpret tests to access the condition of the patient. Nursing can be a wonderful, caring, and thoughtful job. However, to other nurses: nursing can be a difficult, tiring, and stressful job. Any job can be tough but nursing is emotionally and physically draining on a person. Nursing can be such a burdensome and demanding job sometimes because of the long hours, the exam to become a nurse, and dealing with other people.
Nursing goes beyond caring for a patient during their illness and managing their disease process. Nursing includes adapting to a patient’s and their family’s physical, social, spiritual, environmental and psychological needs. I believe in treating the whole patient and being supportive of the family’s needs as well. Shelly & Miller (2006) asserts “while critical thinking, decision-making, and leadership skills are extremely important, the characteristics nurses need most are compassion, competence, faith, integrity and responsibility” (p. 291).
Many jails and prisons are well aware of the financial burden healthcare brings to jails and prisons. Yet, leaders of jails and prisons know that by law, medical services must be provided to their inmates, as it is considered an Eighth Amendment issue regarding cruel and unusual punishment. Furthermore, the medical services provided, must be at a level comparable to the care an inmate would receive in the community if they were not incarcerated. Therefore if I were a warden of a prison, I would recommend reducing the inmate need for healthcare and reduce the cost of health care per inmate treated.
Nurses are known as the heart of health care. Being a nurse is a demanding job that requires commitment, but does not lack rewards. A fact stated by the American Association of Colleges of Nurses claims that “Nurses comprise the largest single component of hospital staff, are the primary providers of hospital patient care, and deliver most of the nation 's long-term care” (“Nursing Fact Sheet”). With many roles throughout the healthcare system as a whole, nurses are a large, very important role that interacts with every other part of the health care system. They have great qualities that not everyone has. They are highly compassionate, caring, professional, diligent and understanding individuals. A nurse experiences people at their worst and still care for patients in a way that no one else would. All these honest points prove that nurses are the most important members of the health care system because, nurses spend the most time with patients, nurses are the managers of patient care; they are teachers and are great with conflict resolution.