Healthcare in the Central Prison of Georgia - Essay Example

I would like to inform you that I have many contacts with the staff members of the Department of Corrections. They have informed me that the staffs of the corrections department continuously violate the laws. Unit II of the central prison of Georgia is especially involved in neglects of this kind. I am quite certain about my claim regarding Unit II of the prison, but I am not sure about the prevailing conditions of the other units. I would like to share with you some information that was collected by an acquaintance of mine who at the moment prefers to be anonymous.

For the purpose of dealing with patients, this over-crowded prison has only three medical nurses who have to perform a lot of duties. It has been estimated that for a patient load of this magnitude, at least 9 nurses are required. This was determined by senior elected officers of the health care department. However, before the implementation of this measure, it was delayed and finally discarded. At present, only three nurses work to fulfill the needs of such prisoners which is extremely unsatisfactory. Instead of providing regular checkup on monthly intervals, the sick are checked after three months

            Another disappointing dilemma is the replacement of medical nurses with pharmacists during the absence of medical nurses. Even though pharmacists contribute a considerable role in society and there are many prescriptions that ask for a patient-pharmacist interaction but allowing pharmacists to treat patients despite knowing the fact that they are not trained for clinical tasks is astonishing. When a pharmacist is permitted to monitoring and treating patients but is not provided with the complete medical background of patients, the interaction enhances the risk of complexity in medication therapy. This also has a negative impact on pharmacist’s professional growth since patients fail to cooperate with pharmacists when they learn that a pharmacist is treating them.

            Of particular importance is the issue of allowing medical nurses to treat patients suffering from mental disorders. The constitution indicates the appointment of a Physiatrist for treating such patients but here again, complete disobedience to the law can be observed. This law-breaking has also enhanced pressure and burden on medical nurses. The turnover rate of nurses in this facility has increased due to the fact that nurses are already overworked i.e. >20hrs/day. If all this continues to happen, situations will become worse as there will be no more nurses in the whole unit.

            I look forward to hearing your response and I hope that you will certainly order investigations regarding mental healthcare in the prison. Additionally, I would like to urge you to please announce the appointment of more medical professionals including psychiatrists and medical nurses. This will ensure optimum delivery of care to the prisoners.

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