“[It] Does Harden a Person Working in Such a Stressful Environment”

ABSTRACT 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burnout, overwhelming work hours, and emotional and physical effects; (b) “social relationships and family impacts”: withdrawn, strained homelife, and uncertainty; and (c) “need for change”: improved staffing, reduced mandatory overtime, and better support from management.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.