The Iowa Board of Corrections will get an update this week on a program that pairs nursing students with prisoners.
The program is in its third year and links advanced nursing students at Saint Ambrose University with offenders who are on probation or work release, including the chronically mentally ill.
Nursing professor Steven Kalbers says the students offer motivational health counseling. “The students have done health coaching, which has enabled the client to identify particular areas in their life where they are interested in making changes or improvements,” Kalbers said.
The Saint Ambrose nursing partnership with the prisons is the only one of its kind in the state.
The Board of Corrections is scheduled to meet on Friday in Davenport.