Background: The professional practice of nurses in prisons has specifc characteristics that, from an improvement perspective, areimportant to understand. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the perceptions of general care nurses and nurse managers orthose in management positions regarding their professional practice in Portuguese prison services.Methods: This is a descriptive, qualitative study conducted in 11 prison establishments in Portugal, involving general care nursesand nurse managers or those in management positions. Semistructured interviews were used. The fndings underwent thematicanalysis, using ATLAS.ti software.Results: The analysis of the discourses revealed three thematic areas: professional singularities within prison services, factorsinfuencing professional practice, and negative repercussions along with proposals for improvement. The singularities of theparticipants’ practices focused on professional, ethical, and legal responsibility. However, general care nurses focused on theplanning and implementation of interventions, while managers focused on the quality and safety management and the man-agement of human and material resources. Knowledge and advanced training are facilitators of professional practice in prisons;general care nurses add experience and refection on care, and managers add autonomy and management strategies. Thecharacteristics of the prison environment, the profle of the incarcerated individuals, and the lack of human and material resourcesare hindering factors, to which, from the perspective of general care nurses, the absence of opportunities for decision-makingparticipation is added, and from the managers’ perspective, the absence of strategic nursing planning. Consensual improvementproposals were the adequacy of human and material resources, the defnition of strategic planning, and the recognition of nursesworking in prison services.Conclusion: The fndings underscore the importance of leadership, strategic planning, specialized training, safe stafng, adequatematerial resources, and improved communication. As improvement proposals emerged, the implementation of managementpolicies and the valorization of nurses working in prison services were included
