Forensic nursing in secure environments.

Area of Science:

• Forensic Nursing
• Corrections Healthcare
• Nursing Practice in Secure Environments

Background:

• Limited well-designed studies exist on corrections or prison nursing roles.
• National data on the scope of practice for forensic nurses in secure environments is scarce.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the roles of forensic nurses providing care within secure correctional environments in the United States.
• To identify key responsibilities and variations in practice based on institutional security levels.

Main Methods:

• A pencil-and-paper survey was administered to 180 forensic nurses across 14 states working in secure settings.
• Descriptive statistics and repeated measures ANOVA with post hoc analyses were employed to analyze the data.

Main Results:

• Forensic nurses in secure settings were older on average but had 10 years or less of experience.
• Two primary roles emerged: promoting quality practice principles and assessing/developing patient care programs.
• Significant role variations were observed based on the security classification of the unit or institution.

Conclusions:

• Accessing data on nurses in closed correctional systems is challenging, indicating a need for more research.
• Continued data collection is essential to track changes and define the specialization of forensic nursing in secure environments.