Jailhouse rocks for new nurse

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[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/egerton.jpg” caption=”Tamika Egerton, who will graduate from McMaster’s nursing program Friday, has landed a unique job working at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario. File photo.”]Tamika Egerton loves it in jail.

The soon-to-be McMaster graduate hasn't done anything wrong – it's her work that has
put her in prison.

“I absolutely love what I'm doing, I love my career,” said Egerton, who was recently hired
to work as a nurse at Maplehurst Correctional Complex in Milton, Ontario.

When she first started her clinical placement at Maplehurst last January, Ian Clarke, her
manager and a McMaster nursing alumnus, explained that he likes to bring students to
the facility to learn about correctional nursing, a relatively unknown field of work. Her
interest piqued, Egerton took at job at the complex after completing her studies at
McMaster.

On Friday, Egerton will be one of 30 graduands awarded their Bachelor of Science in
Nursing degree during the 2:30 p.m. convocation ceremony at Hamilton Place. In
addition to the graduates of the McMaster-Mohawk-Conestoga nursing program, 16
master's nursing students and one PhD student will receive graduate degrees.

Graduates from the rest of McMaster's Faculty of Health Sciences and the Faculties of
Science and Engineering will also receive their degrees at the ceremony.

According to the Canadian Nurses Association, nurses represent the largest group of
health care professionals working in the correctional system, addressing the health care
needs of inmates from the time they enter the system, through transfers to other
institutions and to their eventual release into the community.

Egerton finds her work has unique challenges, including the fact that in a prison the
patient's health is still a top priority, but the main focus is on security. Cameras are
everywhere and rather than working one-on-one with a patient, nurses are not allowed
to be in the room with an inmate without a correctional officer present.

“The relationships with your patients are different. It can be difficult to build a
therapeutic, trusting relationship with a patient because a correctional officer is always
there,” she said. “But while being a challenge, it can be very fulfilling, if you're up for it.
You have to learn to work like the officer isn't there.”

Egerton says she likes the uniqueness of her job – that it's like working in several
nursing units at once. She treats patients with everything from cancer and diabetes to
trauma from car accidents and gunshot wounds. “Every day is different. It's not your
traditional bedside nursing where you see the same things day in and day out,” said
Egerton.

She advises anyone interested in correctional nursing to have an open mind about the
job.

“The main barrier is the fear of the unknown, but I've never felt safer in my nursing
practice due to the high level of security.”

Egerton is proud to be graduating as a nurse from McMaster, which she said “definitely
has a challenging four-year program, so it's an accomplishment in itself – regardless of
what job you get when you finish – to feel confident and say that you've learned enough
to go out and help the public.”