A Look at Correctional Nursing

Helping a person achieve even a remote change for the better in their life makes the effort worthwhile.

That sentiment is a frame of mind that Middlesex resident Joan Mitchell has developed during her career in the medical field — a career that spans 37 years as a registered nurse.

Now, applying that mentality to a career behind the walls of a correctional facility? The 63-year-old didn't anticipate that. However, there she is today — working as the correctional health nursing director of the Ontario County Jail.

It started with a few inmate blood draws at the facility while she was employed by Thompson Hospital. Then one day, Ontario County Undersheriff Dave Tillman asked the registered nurse if she would be willing to work in the jail’s medical department for one year. She agreed.

“I’m now on my 11th year here,” Mitchell said.

She added that she’s satisfied by her decision to stick around, displayed recently when she became one of the few nurses in her career field to earn specialty federal certification in the field of correctional nursing.

To become a Certified Correctional Health Professional-RN, Mitchell demonstrated the ability to deliver specialized nursing care in corrections. It's a speciality that offers a unique experience each day she checks in to work.

“As a nurse you are privy to experiences that you would otherwise never experience,” Mitchell said. “You live it though the patient’s eyes and you go through it with them.”

Mitchell has access to a chart showing that the medical facility in the jail has seen slightly more than 5,500 inmate patients from January 2016 to June 2016 — an average of nearly 920 patients who enter the department each month.

The department looks like a typical medical clinic, except strewn with black bubbles protruding from the ceiling that house cameras that can be tapped into at any point by deputies who monitor the facility. Also unique are the cells set aside for inmates who might end up on suicide watch.

Inside the department, a team of six registered nurses and a nurse practitioner have a lot to do, including overseeing care management for the occasional HIV-positive patients, handing out medications, and providing care for the occasional pregnant woman housed in the facility, as well as helping along those who are dealing with opioid or alcohol withdraw symptoms.

When Mitchell first took the job, it was hard to know what to expect, but the rampant presence of alcohol and drug abuse was a bit of a surprise. Mitchell points out that substance abuse problems impact well over 50 percent of the inmates at the Ontario County Jail.

It’s a problem that she says starts with the treatment of mental health, which leads into substance abuse. The end result is the inevitability of crime and the individual's placement in jail.

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