Correctional setting or clinical setting??

rosen60 · Jul 25, 2016

I would take the residency, leaving in good standing and learn all that you can. The corrections position isn't going anywhere and you should be able to return armed with more knowledge and increased skill which will be useful, because as you said it'snever boring. I recently started a contract position in one of our local prisons and see that there is a definite shortage in this field, RN's and LPNS both.

oldpsychnurse · Aug 1, 2016

Do you like med/surg? Working in a hospital is a whole different ball game. I worked forensic psych for 16 years and loved every minute of it. Now I'm in a behavior health holding area in a general hospital and well, it sucks. If you want to get your med/surg skills up, maybe you could work per diem in a local hospital if you want to keep your jail job. To me (and I've been a nurse over 30 years) if you have a job you love, well, that's a precious thing. Good luck whatever you decide.

CryssyD · Aug 6, 2016

This truly is a question only you can answer. Since you say you really like your current job, I would think you already know what's best for you. I thought I would really hate prison nursing, but I actually loved it--I'm moving on to a job in psych soon (having acquired lots and lots of psych experience in prison--amazing how much knowledge of behavioral management and counseling is required in correctional nursing), but I will definitely go back to prison work if I don't take to the pure psych like I think I will. I agree that one of the best things about it was the variety, never knowing exactly what each shift would bring.

Anyway, what matters most, I think, is why you're contemplating the move. Something prompted you to apply for the hospital position--what was it? Do you feel that your experience is lacking in some way? Are you interested in the challenges of acute hospital patients--in jail, of course, you send out whatever you can't handle there, so maybe you feel you're missing out on the more interesting stuff? Do you feel you need to build up your resume, just in case?

You could always try the new job, and go back to corrections with more experience if you found out you didn't like the hospital--jails and prisons are ALWAYS hiring. The main thing is to be happy in your work. You've already gleaned some experience where you are, and new acute skills won't really transfer--knowing how to care for a fresh cholecystectomy, acute renal failure, or hip replacement isn't going to help you in most corrections facilities, although large high-security-level prisons often have infirmaries that can function as mini-med-surg units once offenders are stable enough to leave the hospital. If you just want to feel more comfortable with codes or serious traumas, take an ACLU class and/or get some trauma nursing CEUS. I never advise brand new nurses to go into corrections, but since you're not brand new anymore, you probably know more than you think you do and can handle almost anything you will encounter in your current setting.

Whatever you choose, good luck. :)

BellaNoor · Sep 28, 2016

I have to agree that I think you should take the residency program and see if you can continue to work in the jail part time or per diem. My first job out of nursing school was a correctional position at a county jail and I absolutely loved it. I loved the people I worked with, it wasnt a difficult job. I was paid well and there was loads of overtime. But I always had this urge to go and work in the hospital. So I left the position at the county jail and went and worked in a hospital in an intermediate care unit. Booooooooooyyyyyyy was that a terrible idea. Firstly, the amount of stress compared to the jail was on another level. Secondly, i took a pay cut to go to a place that gave me more stress than i could handle.

I think it is a good idea to go to the hospital, just so that you can add it to your resume because you may have a difficult time in the future if you decide that you want to do something different and they see that youve never had hospital experience, it may make it hard for you to be marketable. I say do the residency program for a year if you like it stay with the hospital, if you dont go back to the correctional setting.

Slhengy · Jan 12, 2017

I would work PRN for both the hospital and jail and see which one you like better. I bet you like the jail better. Hospitals are notorious for overworking their nurses to the point of them leaving the industry completely. Also there is more stress to deal with in a hospital.....family members, demanding patients, standards of care, core measures, joint commission, diagnostic tests, entitled patients, a$$hole doctors, dietary inclusions, physical therapy, case management, micro managing, etc. All this AND you make less.

Elleteedee226 · Jan 26, 2017

Thank you for all the comments, I too have been contemplating the same thing because I work in the county jail and LOVE it!! My coworker left the jail to work in the hospital for a better schedule but that's the only part of her job she likes - the schedule. She loved working in the jail but the only downfall was the schedule.

I often wonder if I should work in the hospital to get more experience but then I always fall back on the thought that I pursued nursing to have a job that I enjoy and felt fulfilled. If I have that now, at the jail, why do I keep thinking I need "more"??

I am currently enrolled in RN-MSN program at WGU as a way to be more marketable with a plan to pursue getting my NP.

Has anyone gone this route?

Slhengy · Jan 27, 2017

I am a BSN currently working in a jail and also pursuing my FNP. I plan to work here as an NP once I graduate.