Our Beginnings

Thirteen years ago, the team at Correctional HealthCare Consultants,  led by Dr. Lori Roscoe,  looked for Continuing Education programs that offered accredited continuing education  hours for Correctional  Nurses that actually considered the environment in which we operate.  We found very few classes that were really pertinent to correctional nursing, although they were advertised as continuing education for the Correctional Nurse.

And so, we decided to start our own program.  We achieved Provider status with the California Board of Registered Nursing so that our classes would earn continuing education hours, and began our research. We have found that most Boards of Nursing do accept credits from other states, but feel free to contact us if you have questions.  Our classes are also acceptable toward the National Commission on Correctional Health Care CCHP and CCHP-RN continuing certification requirement and the American Correctional Association’s certifications as well.

Why Take Our Classes?

Great Information and Awesome Support

All classes at The Correctional Nurse Educator are developed using current research in nursing and healthcare, and include references so that students can do further reading should they desire to do so.  They are updated regularly.  Many are based upon presentations given at national conferences for correctional healthcare.  New classes are added regularly, often based upon requests from students. Classes are given online and can be accessed at any time convenient for the student for up to one year after purchase.

We pride ourselves on responsiveness to your questions and requests, and typically respond within 24 hours.  

We are able to give group discounts, and even facility “passes” so that all nursing staff can participate at a significantly reduced cost.  Please email us with your needs, and we will be happy to work with you!  We can also develop classes using your content so that the class is more specific to your facility/program.  This is great for Orientation and Annual Updates that are mandatory.

All students will get an individualized Certificate of Completion immediately upon successful completion of the final review in a class.  We will track all participant progress and can provide a summary of individual participation and classes taken.   In addition, Group Leaders can be named for your program who will have access to the same information and management tools.  

Enrollment is free for everyone, and provides access to the classroom from which any class can be purchased.
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Current Students

Our program is designed to meet the needs of correctional facilities large and small.  We currently have contracts with groups as small as 5 nurses and as large as  700 nurses – and all sizes in between!   These include the Michigan Department of Correction; the Hawaii Department of Public Safety;  McLennan County, TX; Linn County, IA; New River Valley Regional Jail; Blue Ridge Regional Jail; Cheshire County, NH; Quality Correctional Health Care; and others. 

Whether your group is large or small, the class access and content is the same, unless you have chosen to customize the class for your facility (i.e. wanted to include your policy and procedure).  We are flexible and happy to accommodate a schedule that works best for your staff and your budget. 

Contact us today to discuss your continuing education needs!

A Note about Implicit Bias in Healthcare

According to the National Institutes of Health, implicit bias is a type of bias that happened automatically and unintentionally, but still affects health staff’s judgments, decisions, and behaviors.  Research has shown that implicit bias does contribute to health disparities and may affect the attitude toward and interactions with patients by health staff.  This, in turn, affects the quality of healthcare provided, the diagnoses made, and treatment plan. In addition, implicit bias may affect professional behaviors, attitudes, and patient interactions so much that ultimately, patients’ trust and comfort with their provider is reduced. This may lead to earlier terminations of encounters and reduced treatment plan adherence and follow-up.

Correctional patients are a vulnerable population that research has shown have more chronic illness, past trauma, and lower health literacy than individuals in the general population.  They are often marginalized in the community healthcare system, and they have typically been negatively affected by the social determinants of health.  The addition of implicit bias on the part of the health staff can amplify these disadvantages.

We can mitigate implicit bias though awareness and effective bias-reduction strategies. The National Institutes of Health recommends the following:

  • Think of counter-stereotypic examples.
  • Consider the perspective of the other person – imagine what it would be like to have others question your ability or skills because of your social identity.
  • Consciously interrupt your automatic bias thoughts – Identify when you may be most affected by implicit bias and create an action plan to increase consideration of, or mitigate the influence of, implicit bias.
  • Educate yourself and others to raise awareness of your implicit bias – look here for a free online class about Implicit Bias offered by the National Institutes of Health.

As you take our classes, reflect for a moment on the bias that you bring to a patient encounter, the potential negative effect it may have on your patient and their care, and what you can do at that moment to mitigate the effect.