Preview

Phenomenology: Nursing and Lived Experience

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
26835 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Phenomenology: Nursing and Lived Experience
A Phenomenological study describing the lived experience of nurses caring for prisoner-patients

by

Christopher Veal

i

A Phenomenological study describing the lived experience of nurses caring for prisoner-patients

ABSTRACT

There are close to five thousand prisoners in custody in Queensland prisons and this number is on the increase. Prisoners have complex health needs and it is the role of the correctional health nurse to care for prisoner-patients and their health needs. Yet there is a paucity of research surrounding this topic. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experience of nurses caring for prisoner-patients. Five registered nurses, employed in correctional centres in Southeast Queensland were interviewed to illuminate the experience of caring for prisoner-patients. Data was analyzed using Colaizzi’s (1978) method of phenomenology. Textual analysis revealed two themes with five corresponding sub-themes that depicted the meaning of nurses’ caring for prisonerpatients. The experience of nurses caring for prisoner-patients was described by nurse

participants as ‘obstructive practices’ from the custodial officers, ‘decreased standards of care’ by nursing staff, ‘prejudice’ towards to prisoners, ‘increased level of mentally ill prisoners’ and a ‘lack of recognition’ for nurses working in the prisons. Amidst all these

difficulties, nurses who cared for prisoner-patients demonstrated courage in the work they did and persevered for the sake of the their prisoner-patients and the specialty that is correctional health nursing. Communication must continue between prison and health care administrators in order to identify conflicting issues that impact on the autonomy of nurses delivering health care to prisoner-patients. Further research must also be conducted into the level of mental illness in the prisoners and the health care that is needed for the mentally ill prisoner.

i

A Phenomenological study

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    The elimination of state mental hospitals was not based on human need, but rather a political policy decision. The shortage of mental institutions creates a shift in the role of prison systems and presents several different issues for mentally ill inmates. The inmates are not medically treated in…

    • 252 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is easy to just follow along with the laws and rules of the health care system; however, a nurse must advocate for the patients. In the case of dealing with an individual with mental health issues that requires treatment; it is necessary that a nurse provide resources that could benefit the patient and their family. Not only did this book, greatly and positively impact the nursing care that one provides, it also showcases how skewed the healthcare/mental system is. This system is focused on the laws, that are focused on the rights of the patient, and therefore fail to note that some patients with psychological issues, lack the insight or judgment to make informed decisions. The three categories to involuntary detain someone only help a small population. What about someone that is wandering the streets talking to themselves, clearly needs help, and is made fun of by the community. This person is labeled by society as “Crazy”, yet because they are not a danger to themselves, not a danger to others, or gravely disabled, they can continue to roam the streets without treatment. The healthcare/mental health system, is greatly influenced by the legal/justice system. The legal/justice system is also skewed, as this system focuses on the rights of the patient, and fails to address what is medically best for the individual. There is a disconnect with what is medically correct, as…

    • 1093 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Regulatory Agency

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Health care is defined as the maintaining and restoration of health by the treatment and prevention of disease especially by trained and licensed professionals in medicine, dentistry, clinical psychology, and public health (Merriam-Webster, 2013). Health care is important to every population even those who are incarcerated. The Federal Bureau of Prisons is responsible for not only the safe, humane, and secure confinement of prisoners but for the health care of inmates who are incarcerated in Bureau facilities in the United States. The Bureau’s professional staff provides essential medical, dental, and mental health services in a manner that is consistent with accepted community standards of health care in a correctional environment (BOP, n.d.). The Bureau only uses licensed and accredited health care providers in its ambulatory care unites, which care supported by community consultants and specialists (BOP, n.d.). The health of inmates is taken very seriously by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and their role in this process is vital to the health care that is provided to prisoners.…

    • 1475 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Governmental Agency

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Within this paper, there will be an explanation of the role and impact of a governmental agency that regulates prison health care. In order to understand the full velocity of prison health care, one must first understand the definition of health care regulatory agencies. Health care regulatory agencies were established to monitor health care facilities and practitioners. They were also set up to provide information about health care changes, ensure health care safety and promote legal obedience and efficient services. At the federal, state, and local level, these health care agencies help to establish regulations and guidelines that the health care industry is required to uphold. Some of the agencies are not required to participate, such as those for accreditation, but should because they provide certifications of the quality or ranking of services. The object of this paper is to provide a better understanding of a governmental regulatory agency that regulates prison health care; the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP).…

    • 1189 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Criminal Justice

    • 5917 Words
    • 24 Pages

    Medical Care. (2006). Health care issues of female offenders. The Management and Specialty Training Center (MSTC). Retrieved from http://www.bop.gov/ inmate programs/health.jsp…

    • 5917 Words
    • 24 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In this article, the incarceration of the mentally ill is encouraged because it is safer than keeping them in mental institutions. It claims that mental institutions are extremely dangerous by their very nature and the nurses there are trained to treat the mentally ill, not to keep them from hurting themselves or other people. In prisons however, the guards are equipped with the experience of a 16 week training program and are able to handle any commotion that might be made without endangering the lives of the prisoners or the public. This viewpoint is contrary to that in Pete Earley’s book because it endorses the imprisonment of the mentally ill, while in contrast Earley strongly believes the mentally ill need treatment, not imprisonment.…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Prisons are slowly but surely becoming America’s new Asylums. An estimated 450 million people nationwide suffer from mental or behavioral disorders. These disorders are pretty common within prison populations. This extremely high rate of mental disorders in prison is closely related to several factors: the misconception that all people with mental disorders are a danger to the public, the failure to promote treatment, care, and rehabilitation, and the lack of access to mental health services. Many of these disorders are present before prison however, mental health disorders can also be developed during imprisonment due to human rights violations.…

    • 857 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Inmates In Jail

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Prison is a building in which people are legally held as a punishment for crimes they have committed or while awaiting trial. Today, persons look at prison in different way, the Time Magazine article, “Criminals Should Be Cured Not Caged”, claims in 1968. However, people and management are still experiencing disturbing tactics, which used in the most American public. In the U.S., there were more people recorded reports of police misconduct and fatalities linked to misconduct, according to the article statistics and reporting. Although the occurrence of police brutality is acknowledged by establishments as persistent problem, intentions for it are the best qualified as theories. A prisoner has the right to sue prison guards. Inmates in jail have the right to many resources, including medical care. Prisoners have to get…

    • 952 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mental Illness In Prison

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages

    What then is the best setting in which to provide the care? They must look at the scenario of developing acute care psychiatric units in prisons by shifting state funds to departments of corrections from departments of mental health. Many departments of corrections have agreements with state departments of mental health for providing acute care. This approach creates expenses associated with the transfer of offenders back and forth and security concerns, as well as interdepartmental conflicts and communication problems inherent in the difference between handling offenders and handling patients.Suicide is the third leading cause of death in U.S. state and federal prisons, exceeded only by natural causes and AIDS. Comprehensive suicide-prevention programs in prisons are of increasing importance to mental health professionals, correctional administrators, healthcare providers, legislators, attorneys, and others as they seek to rehabilitate offenders and avoid the multi million-dollar lawsuits that often arise from inmate…

    • 996 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Prison Service encompasses three central aims; holding prisoners securely, decrease risk of offending and lastly offer safe, well-ordered institutions in which prisoners are treated humanely, decently and lawfully (Cavadino and Dignan, 2007, p.193). When the state incarcerates, it must accept accountability for the basic care of those it detains. Although prisoners should not expect luxuries during their time of incarceration, they should not be deprived of the basic goods and comforts of life. Certification of access to enough goods should be available to help them develop as the citizens expected to be. Lord Justice Woolf (1991) claimed three necessities for the prison system to maintain steadiness: security, control and justice. In terms…

    • 247 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Although female inmates’ time spent behind bars is intended to serve as their punishment, having their health neglected often serves as a further punishment, a punishment that is inhumane. “The blood-sugar levels of diabetics aren’t routinely tested, resulting in life-threatening seizures; inmates with newly detected cancers are ignored until they’re deathly ill with stage four metastasized malignancies” (Berg 144,145). It seems as though the prison system justifies the inhumane treatment of criminals, and female criminals in particular, merely because of the crimes they have committed. While some may argue that mistreatment of those who have committed violent crimes is fair, “the majority of imprisoned women are there for nonviolent crimes: drugs, prostitution, check forgery” (Berg 144). These women are serving time for their wrongdoings, and neglecting them proper healthcare is a violation of their ethical…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Conflict Diagnosis

    • 1151 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Suicide rates within prisons, although not the leading cause of inmate deaths, are the leading cause of preventable deaths in a jail or prison setting. Inmates are particularly at risk during the first 24 hr under custody as they face the reality of incarceration (Hayes, 1995). Many inmates, especially those first incarcerated for felony cases, embody a sense of fear, isolation, distrust for everyone, a lack of control, and shame which can lead to choosing suicide as a way to escape from it all. Mental health is considered to be a conflict diagnosis in different facilities on how to approach and find out which inmates suffer from a mental illness and the steps to take to help prevent prison inmate suicides and the action required if an inmate attempts or succeeds at a suicide.…

    • 1151 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Historical Prison Eras

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Correctional institutions emerged gradually from the Big House. In this new era harsh discipline and repression by officials became less-oppressive features of prison life. Correctional institutions did not abolish the pains of imprisonment; one might classify most of these prisons as Big Houses “gone soft” (Seiter, 2011). These institutions offered more recreational privileges such as more-liberal mail, different visitation policies, and more amenities including educational, vocational, and therapeutic programs. Something that promoted peace and more stability was…

    • 645 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Prison Health Care Paper

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Healthcare is a big topic no matter how you view it, but when looking at it from the point of a person who is in prison, it takes on a whole new view. Those who are in prison have federal and state laws that say that the prisons must provide them with medical facilities for their healthcare needs. This paper will identify a governmental agency that regulates the healthcare that is provided to prisoners in an institution within the United States, along with the foundation of such an agency and who regulates the licenses, accreditation, certifications, and authorization for employment for those who work within one of these facilities.…

    • 1487 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Correctional nurses are confronted daily with a struggle against a tidal wave of organizational culture convinced that we should not be caring ‘too much’ for our patients. Caring for murderers, rapists, and criminals takes true grit and a more serious definition than a superficial application of a warm positive emotional response or empathetic word. We are the ‘Tough Love’ folks on the nursing caring…

    • 65 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays

Related Topics