Nursing Students Behind Bars: An Innovative Pilot Project

Purpose: The prison population is one of the fastest growing populations in the United States (U.S.) The U.S. prison population rose to 16.3% overall from 2000 to 2009, with the highest rates among elder adults at 79%. One in every 100 American adults is incarcerated, the Bureau of Statistics 2006 report, “over 95% of inmates will eventually be released back to the community”.  Prisoners have a basic human right to receive healthcare without discrimination despite being incarcerated.  According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “prisoners suffer a disproportionate burden of healthcare problems as their health needs are often neglected”.  WHO tasks healthcare providers within the prison system to provide quality cost effective healthcare to inmates. The purpose of this presentation is to provide information to nurse educators to facilitate a student lead health promotion community service project for a Federal Penitentiary for low and medium security population.

Methods:  In Spring 2014, a qualitative pilot study was conducted with twelve senior level baccalaureate nursing students in a Federal Penitentiary.  The purpose was to provide a health promotion interactive activity with the prison population in medium security federal correctional institution (FCI) and minimum security federal prison camp (FPC). Approximately 200 inmates voluntarily participated in a health fair that focused on topics such as hypertension, cholesterol, healthy eating and exercise, diabetes, heart disease, health screenings, and personal hygiene. Inmates rotated through each of the various interactive displays during timed intervals. Inmates completed Federal Department of Correction evaluation forms. Nursing students completed reflective journals of the experience from planning to implementation.

Results: Nursing students, penitentiary staff, and both FCI and FPC inmates expressed the experience was beneficial. Students expressed a change in their perceptions of Community Health and the prison population. This experience will be added to the Community Health curriculum each semester.  A nursing student commented, “everyone is a part of the community and it is our job as nurses to make sure that we include them all and do our best to help and assist everyone”.  From the planning to the implementation of the project, the experience was well received by students. 

Conclusion: Further studies are warranted to examine the long-term effects of the health promotion education of inmates. This project served a two-fold purpose of the health needs of the inmates and an integral part of their reentry and reintegration to society. 

References:

Loeb, S., Steffensmeier, D., & Kassab, C. (2011). Predictors of self-efficacy and self-rated health for older male inmates. Journal Of Advanced Nursing, 67(4), 811-820. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2648.2010.05542.x

Williams, B., Stern, M., Mellow, J., Safer, M., Greifinger, R. (2012). Aging in correctional custody: Setting a policy agenda for older prisoner health care. American Journal Of Public Health, 102(8), 1475. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2012.300704

World Health Organization (WHO). (2007). Health in prisons: A guide to essentials in prison health. Copenhagen. Retrieved from http://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/99018/E90174.pdf