[starbuckjunkee]

I've been offered a job at a correctional facility and I've contemplated it for awhile. I just have my reservations about it. Can anyone give me a heads up about what to expect? I'd like to have some idea before I jump into this.
Thanks for any info or advice. I'm so so SO happy I happened along this site. It's been very, very helpful!
Kudos my friends
SBJ

[medi]

Hi SBJ,
There's a career profile about Corrections Nursing written by a corrections nurse in which she describes what her work is like pretty well. I think it may be helpful so here's the URL to the article: http://medi-smart.com/profile3.htm
Have you gone to a facility to see it & interview yet? What were your impressions?

[Judyd]

I worked very briefly in one once. I felt the staff lacked compassion for the pts, the situation was fairly safe and we were always in few when in contact with a pt. I took up a cause and rallied behind a pt to help prevent him getting two fingers cut off. I could tell the entire staff did not agree with me but they gave the pt a break and attempted further to help him. He grabbed onto that straw of help and played it for all it was worth, manipulating and trying to get more and more. It really was an eye opener for me. The pts are as different as can be, so the care must be different too. I changed fields rapidly. Now many yrs. later I have a son in the pen.. He called me once and was very frightened as they were locking up several pts in soluntary because of a contagious infection. He was terrified of being locked in an enviroment that he felt was being quarantied. I new believe it was MRSA and urged good hand washing and lots of rest to build his immunity and thank God for nurses in correctional institutes. Hope this is not to late, and gives some limited insight.

[Hallrunner]

Hello,

I'm so burned out you can call me a crispy critter. However, I can contribute a morsel of experience for you.

As part of my search for an alternative practice setting, I did an orientation for work in a prison setting for a registry. I worked two shifts.

The main things I remember from the orientation is the emphasis on TB testing that I would have to do. We were fitted with masks, as happens all the time now. At that time it was novel for me. But that was the main part of the orientation along with safety.

The other thing was they emphasized for us not to get involved with inmates in any way, shape, or form. They literally said, "Don't give the jailhouse keys to an inmate. Don't let one walk out with you." None of the nurses I met would even tell ME where they lived. Some of them covered over their license plates in the parking lot. You carried next to nothing into the prison; the control and key system was incredible.

And I recall that once I walked through a lobby where inmates were sitting on benches waiting for sick call. They all turned and STARED at me--I can't explain this. Nothing like you have ever experienced, all of them hushing up and staring at you like you were something else. I was very uncomfortable.

I worked a med-surg shift. Each inmate was in a locked, solid wall room on a low, metal cot. Emphasis, LOW. Nonadjustable. The deputy opened the door and stood by while you worked.

They told me that they had a whole ward full of quads and paraplegics. They also told me there was a dangerous tier where no nurse ventured unless she was a deputy herself with another an armed guard. I would never be required to go there. They had a psych ward which itself was in lockup. I also wouldn't be going there.

Sad thing. I thought I had lost my wallet, which I had stuffed even deeper into my bag in an effort to make it invisible. I couldn't remember where I had put it. Oh goodness gracious, they had a fit. Well, they didn't say much, but the tension rose fast. Calls were made. They were going to scrub the grounds high and low, but fortunately, I located my wallet. Whew! I felt so stupid and embarrassed.

The nursing setting was dark and dingy. And the guards dressed in the parking lot for combat like you can't imagine. They scared me, even though they were very friendly.

At the end of the orientation, they said "...and if you come back..." Hah! Didn't think so until my second shift. Well, it was for a registry, so I just never returned, but mainly because my back hurt so bad after the first shift. I figured I'd never make it long term.

Another story: I heard about a nurse hired for the local jail system. She did something innocent but stupid: She put her arm through the opening in the bars to take a blood pressure because the inmate wouldn't put his arm through. You know it, he grabbed her...she checked out for lunch and never returned.

Prisoners in the hospital where I work are usually very respectful, because of the sheriffs. You could get them into so much trouble. They seem grateful to be in the hospital and are usually the best behaved patients. You seldom find out what they did to be in jail. They are shackled to the bed, and of course there is a set of rules pertaining only to them. You just can't get cozy with them. The nursing is the same.

I once saw a guard remove a prisoner with his arse hanging out the back of his gown. We stopped them at the unit door and dressed the patient with pj's and slippers. I mean, really!

If you're up for it, this setting might be an eye opener for you. I certainly never forgot my two little shifts. Just be very, very careful. Never get unduly comfortable with your patients.

If you hire in, update us on your experience, please!