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A nurse reveals what it's like to care for prisoners on death row

The nurse has revealed all on life on Death Row at an unnamed US prison (Picture: REX Features)
The nurse has revealed all on life on Death Row at an unnamed US prison (Picture: REX Features)

A new Reddit thread has cast a rarely seen light on life as a nurse on death row, a role that involves looking after the perpetrators of harrowing crimes before they’re condemned to their deaths.

The Reddit user, known as MorrieBear, works as a death row nurse in an unnamed U.S. prison and answered a series of wide-ranging questions about the job during their Ask Me Anything session.

The nurse revealed that they avoid looking up patients’ charges in a bid to prevent any potential emotional connection.

‘No, I am not told what their charges are, but I could easily look them up on public record if I wanted to, but I don’t’, the anonymous nurse wrote.

The nurse described how she avoided an emotional connection to the patients (Picture: REX Features)
The nurse described how she avoided an emotional connection to the patients (Picture: REX Features)

‘I dont want any sort of emotional attachment to them or their crimes in case it effects [sic] my profession.

‘I don’t get personal with the inmates so it hasn’t gotten to the point where they say anything about their crimes, but some of them have been on death row for YEARS so I’m sure it’s second nature to them now.’

And when another asked if the nurse was in favour of the death penalty, they admitted to being on the fence.

‘I’m not really sure how I feel about the death penalty’, they wrote.

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‘And I try not to think of anyones past, because I could be a med surg nurse and deal with people that have done worse, but haven’t gotten caught, but I still keep in mind that they are inmates.’

Despite working in an environment that is overshadowed by death, the nurse also revealed that they had never been witness to an execution – and outlined their standard daily routine.

‘Since its an inmate hospital and not a prison, my day consists of typical nursing duties but in a WAY different environment.

‘We do pill call, treatments, assessments, make rounds with the doctor, and so on! Its a lot different than I imagined! And I haven’t witnessed any executions!’, the nurse wrote.

You can read the whole thread here.