If there’s one thing Major Ruth Wyatt, RN, CCHP, would change about correctional health care, it would be to erase the negative perceptions associated with this field, especially for nurses. She’s working on it; in fact, that has been one of her chief goals ever since she started in corrections.

In 1994, Wyatt was working in a hospital but also was an officer with the reserves unit of the Hinds County Sheriff’s Department in Jackson, MS. When the sheriff offered her the job of health services administrator, she accepted. She relished the opportunity to try something different and found the work to be important and exciting.

However, she soon encountered something she had not anticipated: stigmatization. Her peers in other settings would ask, “Why do you work there? Can’t you find a job anywhere else?” she recalls, even though she had the same license and practiced at the same skill level as they did.

Wyatt didn’t let the uninformed views slow her down. She attended her first NCCHC conference a year later and has been to nearly every Spring and Fall meeting since. She earned certification in the CCHP program in 1999. “I wanted to increase my knowledge about correctional nursing and gain greater insight into the standards for health services,” she says.

Full Steam Ahead
A consummate professional, Wyatt didn’t stop there. In 2000, she became a surveyor in NCCHC’s accreditation program and six years later earned the distinction of being chosen to be a lead surveyor. At the 2007 National Conference in Nashville, she became the newest elected member of the CCHP board of trustees.

One reason Wyatt sought to serve on the board was to become more involved with NCCHC and, through collaboration with like-minded colleagues, to work to eliminate the stigmas and misconceptions about correctional nursing.

The inmate population has changed significantly over the years to one that demands higher levels of care, she explains, thereby necessitating more highly trained and highly qualified nursing staff. In fact, she argues that correctional nursing should be recognized as a distinct specialty.

Wyatt believes that achieving certification reflects respect for and acknowledgment of this specialty, as well as a willingness to raise the bar in skills and education in correctional health care. And she has seen a change in attitudes, especially among the nursing students who work in the jail as part of their community nursing curriculum: They are excited about it!

On the Job
The goal of providing excellent patient care is foremost for Wyatt, but as the HSA for three jail facilities (all accredited by NCCHC) housing 1,100 inmates, she also must contend with myriad management responsibilities.

One of the most challenging aspects of her job is preparing and managing budgets for the cost-effective operation of the health department. This is no easy task when faced with a greater number of inmates with more chronic conditions that require more resources. “It’s not simply a matter of more medication or the higher cost of medication but other practical considerations, such as special dietary needs and extra blankets,” she says.

But her commitment to ongoing education and professional development has helped her gain the skills she needs to be successful in her work. Fortunately for the rest of us, her scope is far broader than her own backyard. She plans to pursue every opportunity to make positive change for correctional nurses and to get the word out, for example by networking at job fairs and nursing schools.

“You need people with strong feelings about what they do to lead the change,” she says. “I haven’t lost any of my enthusiasm, and I want to be one of those people.”

— About the Author: Matissa Sammons is the certification coordinator at NCCHC.