Healthcare in the Prison System Term Paper

Data Analysis Procedures

In what way(s) are the data analysis procedures appropriate for the data collected? A number of qualitative researchers have advanced comparable data collection approaches for qualitative data, and the author relied on the methods developed by Street and Walsh (1996) for this purpose.

In what way(s) are the data analysis procedures consistent with the qualitative method used? The author states that she based her data analysis on the qualitative techniques developed by Massarik (1981).

Strengths and Limitations

What are two major strengths of the scientific merit of this study? The two major strengths of the qualitative study by Doyle (1999) concerned the timeliness of the research and the relevance of the findings; this researcher determined that the psychiatric nurses surveyed identified the following factors as influencing their work: (a) challenging patients, (b) threats to personal survival of patients, - the technology and artifice of confinement, (d) conflicting values of nurses and corrections staff, (e) stigma by association, and (f) prisoner identification of the nurses with prison administration

What are two major limitations of the scientific merit of this study? The two major limitations to this study concern (a) the restriction to a single prison setting and (b) the restriction to psychiatric nursing staff only.

To what extent are the study findings valid? Validity is not as easy to achieve in qualitative studies as their quantitative counterparts (Neuman, 2003), but the researcher relied on techniques with known reliability and validity for this purpose.Conclusion

The research showed that the prison population in the United States continues to grow while the resources available to support these institutions continues to shrink in the face of loud calls for harsher conditions and lengthier sentences for offenders. In the midst of this untenable environment, healthcare providers are faced with the dual dilemma of trying to delivery quality healthcare services to a disproportionately mentally ill and elderly prison population, while simultaneously trying to "look over their shoulders" to ensure their own personal safety. The qualitative study by Doyle (1999) did not result in any earth-shattering findings, but the study was found to be a timely piece of research and represented a good starting point for future studies of this nature.

References

Beger, R.R., & Erger, J.S. (2002, December). Geriatric nursing in prisons is a growing concern. Corrections Today, 64(7), 122.

Buck, M. (2000). Prisons, social control and political prisoners. Social Justice, 27(3), 25.

Daly, W.C. (2000). A half century of prison psychology: 1950-2000. Education, 120(3), 469.

Doyle, J. (1999). A qualitative study of factors influencing psychiatric nursing practice in Australian prisons. Perspectives in Psychiatric Care, 35(1), 29.

Droes, N.S. (1994). Correctional nursing practice. Journal of Community Health Nursing, 11(4), 201.

McDonough, S. (2006, April 24). Study of 2003-04 puts growth rate at 900 inmates per week. Associated….....