A correctional nurse is a nursing professional that cares for and treats inmates and other detainees in correctional facilities and jails. These nursing professionals choose to go behind prison walls every day to attend to detainees’ health needs. They treat perform both routine and emergency medical procedures
The public health model of correctional care delivers high-quality health care based on community standards and establishes close linkages with providers in the communities to which inmates return. These linkages ensure continuity of care and ongoing management of medical and mental health problems.
Correctional nurses commonly provide holistic and comprehensive care for the incarcerated population.
Although incarceration is often counter-productive to the health and well-being of the affected population, it does create a public health opportunity: providing screening, diagnosis, treatment, and post-release linkage to care for members of a vulnerable population who may not seek or have access to services otherwise .
