Teaching Nursing Students to Care for Patients Who Are Inmates.

BACKGROUND: Inmates in federal or state correctional facilities or those who are under the custody of local law enforcement officials receive health care in acute care settings, and caring for these inmate-patients is difficult for many nurses. Nurse educators should teach nursing students that nurses care for all patients in all situations with respect for a person's inherent dignity and worth.

METHOD: Information from relevant nursing publications was synthesized to provide nurse educators with content that can be useful when teaching nursing students to care for inmate-patients in acute care settings. A case study is provided as a teaching strategy for nurse educators.

RESULTS: Respect, care, and concern are expressed differently when nurses care for inmate-patients in acute care settings.

CONCLUSION: Nurse educators are responsible to teach nursing students how professional nurses should respond to patients, especially in situations that many nurses find challenging. [J Nurs Educ. 2017;56(11):655-659.].