[It] Does Harden a Person Working in Such a Stressful Environment: U.S. Correctional Nurses Share Spillover Effects of Their Work

Details

• Personal Author:
  Boch S ; Davis, Kermit G. ; Gillespie GL ; Hittle BM ; Keller E
• Description:
  Background: The United States makes up 4.4% of the world's population but nearly a quarter of the world's incarcerated population. Despite caring for nearly 2 million incarcerated persons and managing their unique needs, little is known about how this work spills over and affects the nurses who work in correctional settings. Study Objective: This descriptive study aimed to (a) examine write-in answers regarding correctional nurse perceptions of how their work impacts their health and their home lives and (b) explore correctional nurse responses for how to improve the work environment to better support their well-being. Method: The researchers compiled and analyzed qualitative data from a cross-sectional study where U.S. correctional nurses (N = 270) completed an online survey. Manifest content analysis was used to analyze optional write-in data. Results: Approximately 41% (n = 111) of participants answered qualitative questions. Participants were primarily White (77.3%) and non-Hispanic or Latino (88.7%), working in prisons (65.8%), and employed by the state (63.8%) as registered nurses (70%). Three major themes emerged: (a) "personal impact": increased stress and burnout, overwhelming work hours, and emotional and physical effects; (b) "social relationships and family impacts": withdrawn, strained homelife, and uncertainty; and (c) "need for change": improved staffing, reduced mandatory overtime, and better support from management. Conclusions: Correctional organizations may consider ways to support the well-being of their nurses through adequate staffing, flexible scheduling, decreased mandatory overtime, and hiring effective nurse managers as key members of the correctional team. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Health Personnel Mental Health Nervous System Occupational Health Safety Stress, Psychological
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Correctional Nursing Burnout Correctional Health Care Workers Cross Sectional Studies Family Life Forensic Nursing Job Stress Long Work Hours Mental Health Nurses Physical Health Qualitative Analysis Spillover Effect Work Schedules Work Stress

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• ISSN:
  1556-3693
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  California ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 5 ; OSHA Region 9
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  185-194
• Volume:
  20
• Issue:
  3
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20070046
• Citation:
  J Forensic Nurs 2024 Jul-Sep; 20(3):185-194
• Contact Point Address:
  Elizabeth Keller, PhD, RN, University of California Los Angeles Fielding School of Public Health, 650 Charles E. Young Dr. S, Los Angeles, CA 90095
• Email:
  kellere4@g.ucla.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2024
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Forensic Nursing
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0e9e41bf182de6adc26d23e3e70ace44d90cf6fcb09bd78e68ad2d270606363b6b51ed630d2e86c1be49495ac6bedaf8e5370f59199a058e235653233dd1b3a8
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/208345/cdc_208345_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 467.76 KB ]