A guard tells an inmate diagnosed with schizophrenia to ask the desk officer for a mop and bucket, then get some water from the shower area and mop the kitchen and hall. The inmate does not comply
The guard becomes angry and cancels the inmate's recreation time. Which action by the correctional nurse is most appropriate?
a. Document the inmate's response as indicative of resistance and psychopathology.
b. Do not intervene. Intervention is not part of a correctional nurse's scope of practice.
c. Confer with the prison psychiatrist regarding reevaluation of this inmate's antipsychotic medication regime.
d. Explain to the guard that this inmate has difficulty following multiple instructions. Suggest stating one idea at a time.
ANS: D
Correctional nurses, like most direct-care nurses outside of corrections, have a professional responsibility to advocate for inmates regarding needed care. A psychiatric nurse would have an understanding of schizophrenia and recognize that the inmate's ability to process multistep instructions was impaired. Advocacy for the inmate is evident by educating the guard so he would not misperceive the reason the inmate did not respond. Documentation is needed for all nursing activities. Involving the psychiatrist might be of some value but is at best a passive form of advocacy, and again, as worded here, suggests that the nurse does not understand how schizophrenia contributed to the inmate's not responding to complex instructions.
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