Attitudes of nurses, paramedics, and medics towards security prisoners: a cross-sectional study

Background: Security prisoners in Israel are those imprisoned due to offenses involving harming state security or from nationalistic motivations. On the one hand, they are accused of a serious criminal offense that harmed state security, while on the other hand they have a right to healthcare like any human being. According to the Theory of Planned Behavior, an attitude is one of three components that predict a behavior intention. The study aims to evaluate the attitudes of nurses, paramedics, and medics toward security prisoners, and to identify factors that could be related to their attitudes.

Methods: A cross-sectional study, conducted using a convenience sample. Attitudes toward security prisoners were measured using the Attitudes Towards Prisoners (ATP) questionnaire. The study included 281 participants. The results show that the nationality of staff members (Jewish, Muslim, or Christian) did not influence their attitudes toward security prisoners (p > 0.05).

Results: Staff members who had treated a security prisoner showed a more positive attitude compared with those who had never treated a security prisoner (p < 0.05). The study also found that the youngest group of participants (20-30 years) had a lower average attitude compared with older age groups (p < 0.05). This may be due to the younger participants' closer age to the experience of military service.

Conclusions: This study showed that there is no connection between staff members' nationality and their attitudes toward security prisoners. This indicates that the staff treat patients in accordance with the equality value. By characterizing variables related to the staff's attitudes we can propose appropriate training programs for the studied staff and the introduction of this topic into the various curricula in Israel, thus improving the quality of staff care.