With the federal courts declaring that California’s prisons could not provide adequate health care because they were overcrowded, inmates often feel neglected by a perceived uncaring system. But, that assumption is not always true.
There are numerous health care providers who are concerned about inmates’ medical needs, and they often take extraordinary efforts to meet patients’ needs. They serve inmates in a variety of ways — from the nurse, who first sees an inmate, to outside specialists; numerous people provide a wide range of services. Most of these doctors, nurses and technicians try their best to do a good job.
However, the manner in which a doctor, nurse, technician or medical staff member treats inmates influences the perception of that service. Is the health care provider kind and polite or are they harsh and arrogant?
Influencing how an inmate perceives his or her medical care is that inmates are aware everything in prison is filtered through a strict system crafted around custody. So, sitting in a holding area overseen by custody staff can make an inmate feel that they are no more than an number in an uncaring system.
An exception to inmates’ perception of an uncaring medical department is nurse Tara Kesecker, BA LVN CCHP.
Kesecker has an office in San Quentin’s Central Health Care Facility. She’s worked for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation for about six years, all at San Quentin. Kesecker has become recognizable at this prison as someone who takes time to meet the medical needs of each inmate in her care.
Kesecker said working at San Quentin “has been a real eye-opener.”
When she began working here, she went to the North Segregation Unit. She said that an inmate was complaining about not getting his medication and said he was in a lot of pain. She said that since no one would bring the inmate his medication, she went back to the medical building, picked up the medication and took it to the inmate. She said that the inmate was very grateful and six years later, he is still giving thanks.
Kesecker said that incident was her first indication that some inmates might not be getting adequate care. “Getting your medication is very important, no matter who you are,” adding, “follow up and continuing care is very important.”
Today, Kesecker works as an optometrist technician assisting inmates with glasses and other vision problems. She has a huge responsibility providing eye care to inmates, a sensitive area of utmost importance to her patients. “I have nothing but praise for all of my co-workers,” she said. “I love working with them.”
Kesecker said she “loves her work,” even though she said she knew that there would be many complexities. “I look forward to the challenges of my job,” she said.
Inmates who walk into her office are greeted with a warm tone and clear words. New patients instantly know that Kesecker is a caring health care provider who takes her job seriously. Her concern about vision and eye care gives patients a real sense of comfort.
“Tara has a way of making one comfortable and relieving tension,” one inmate said.
Kesecker said inmate health care is a constant concern to her, and she wants to be involved in bringing quality health care to inmates.
She said after listening to question from inmates about the link between sleep and overall good health, conducting a sleep test at San Quentin might be useful. She said after Sacramento’s approval to move forward with the test, she’s excited.
Nevertheless, Kesecker said in order for inmates to receive quality care, it is important to communicate and cooperate. Kesecker said. “Inmates must be quality patients.”
She said once an inmate puts in a slip to see the eye doctor, there’s no need to repeat the process. Within 24 hours, the medical slip is processed and the patient will be seen within 90 days.
While it is easy for inmates to feel neglected and abused regarding health care, inmates do not always think about the difficulty health care providers face with each new patient. If inmates step back and put themselves in place of the person trying to provide help, they might get a better perspective that could benefit the goal of good health care.