CASE STUDY
Mary is a recent nursing graduate
from York University and was recently offered a position at Toronto East
Detention Center. Initially, she enthusiastically accepted the job offer and
was excited to start working as an RN in a dynamic and challenging environment.
In her first week however, she quickly realized that the position was going to
be a lot more challenging than she thought as she began to face sexual taunts
and death threats from the inmates on a daily basis. She spoke to a fellow
nurse at the facility for advice, but she was only told that she had better
"get used to it and just ignore them".
Determined to not disappoint the nurse manager so early on and to make a good impression, she tried her best to ignore the inmates and not let the abusive comments get to her. However, it was only a matter of time before she began to feel resentment towards the inmates and the position overall. She began to feel very disenfranchised as evident by how she would avoid interacting with the inmates unless it was absolutely necessary, and she almost made a few careless medication errors which were caught by her nurse manager. Often she would also come home crying after work and would express anger and frustration to her family about having to care for "a bunch of ungrateful, scumbag criminals". After another month at the facility, Mary finally decided that she had had enough and that she was going to quit.
Determined to not disappoint the nurse manager so early on and to make a good impression, she tried her best to ignore the inmates and not let the abusive comments get to her. However, it was only a matter of time before she began to feel resentment towards the inmates and the position overall. She began to feel very disenfranchised as evident by how she would avoid interacting with the inmates unless it was absolutely necessary, and she almost made a few careless medication errors which were caught by her nurse manager. Often she would also come home crying after work and would express anger and frustration to her family about having to care for "a bunch of ungrateful, scumbag criminals". After another month at the facility, Mary finally decided that she had had enough and that she was going to quit.
Please answer these questions on the MOODLE site:
1) What are some of the unique competencies and knowledge areas that nurses who work in correctional
facilities need to possess in order to thrive professionally?
2) What supports are available for nurses like Mary who begin to experience emotional distress as a result of
their work environment?
3) Discuss what some of Mary's rights are as a nurse, and what rights the prisoners have as well. What are
some of the ways to ensure that these rights are protected?
facilities need to possess in order to thrive professionally?
2) What supports are available for nurses like Mary who begin to experience emotional distress as a result of
their work environment?
3) Discuss what some of Mary's rights are as a nurse, and what rights the prisoners have as well. What are
some of the ways to ensure that these rights are protected?