“Correctional healthcare challenges you” says Emily Martinez, RN/Health Services Administrator in Laramie County, Wyoming. Emily has been a nurse for 8 years and has spent almost half of that in correctional nursing.  In that time, she has worked in long term care, labor and delivery, and home health before taking a chance in correctional healthcare. Although any field of healthcare can have a great impact, Emily feels that she has made the greatest difference in correctional nursing. “Your patients are people who have trust issues. You gain their trust by being respectful, following protocol, keeping your word, and providing exceptional care.”

Following in the footsteps of her grandmother and mother, Emily always found the nursing profession appealed to her.  “A recruiter for correctional nursing reached out to me and I figured I would give it a try. Now, I feel that I could see myself in correctional nursing for the rest of my career.”

As a nurse in the correctional environment for nearly 4 years, Emily wants to remind new nurses that you will gain confidence as a nurse with all the different tasks you complete daily. “As a correctional nurse you see so many different things from addiction with detox, behavioral health, chronic care to acute issues. During training, participate in everything you can. Allow yourself to be in uncomfortable situations when you are training, so they aren’t uncomfortable when you are on your own. Make sure to ask questions and learn from your peers. If you aren’t receptive to constructive criticism, you will limit yourself to what you already know.”

For information about open nursing roles and other careers at CorrHealth, please visit our jobs page.