An Examination of Prison Health Worker Professional Identification

• In Event: Barriers to Health Care Access in Prisons

Abstract

It is predicted that, in the next ten years, there will be a shortage of primary care physicians, surgeons and specialists of approximately 45,000 and 46,000, respectively (Office of Rural Health Policy, 2012). In addition to shortages in both rural and non-rural areas, the general health care field is plagued by practitioner burnout, dissatisfaction and turnover. What, then, is the experience of the health care worker when you introduce the environmental challenges of working in a prison? The authors examined professional identification, or the defining of the self-concept in terms of the employment role, of the health worker population in the Pennsylvania correctional system. The primary objective of the study was to assess potential correlations between level of identification of the health workers and their intent to leave the position (ie. worker retention) as well as job satisfaction. The authors used primary data, inviting over 1,300 health services employees to participate in the study, and also assessed available secondary data about the 26 facilities with over 50,000 inmates in the Pennsylvania correctional system. In this session, the authors explain the results of the study, provide implications for theory and practice, and suggest future areas of research.

Authors

• Amber L. Stephenson, Clarkson University

• Nicolette Bell, Pennsylvania Department of Corrections