How does correctional nursing look on future applications?

Correctional nursing is fantastic experience that is generally not valued by other employers in healthcare. It can create a stigma or blot on your resume if you try to get into hospital nursing later. That said, I'm a former correctional nurse now working in a hospital psych unit.

Correctional nursing does not fit well with your long term goals to work as a travel nurse. Travel nurse jobs within corrections are few and generally don't pay well.

However, it may fit with your short term goal - employment and starting your nursing career. I do know of other nurses who started in corrections and eventually went to hospital work like med/surg and ED. It was VERY difficult for them to get into acute care.

I'd focus on what interests you and go from there.

My hospital's ER was so impressed with all that I learned in 1 year of correctional nursing as an LPN that now I'm one of the few exceptions to the "no LPNs in the ER" rule.

Corrections was the best decision I ever made after school. It was the most difficult job I could have ever imagined, but 11 months and 1 week of that business made me fast, efficient, and perfected my triage and assessment abilities beyond that which no amount of schooling could have prepared me for.

Then again, I also clearly laid out with diagrams, monthly schedules, and vividly animated retellings of my experiences in corrections that forced my hiring managers to see how valuable my experience was. It all depends on the twist with which you entail your correctional job duties to your prospective, non-corrections employer.

I have no personal experience on this, but I would assume that correctional nursing would be a positive notch on your resume. Correctional nursing isn't for everybody. In my opinion, it takes a very motivated, headstrong, and emotionally strong person to work in such a challenging setting. If it is looked down upon (and some hospitals may, some may not), it really would itch in my mind why that is so.

When you put it on your resume, make sure that you detail all the things you have done in terms of using/adding/improving skills. A DON I once worked for likened it to being a nurse in a small town (in effect, what a jail or prison is), and you see and do a lot of different things. It would be an exaggeration to say that it is like being on a med/surg floor, but I dealt with a lot of things for the first time after switching to corrections.

Hi,
Congradulations on becoming a (n) Nurse. It will be very rewarding because you are trained to provide health care to those less fortunate (healthwise).
Correctional Nursing is great, but as a new graduate, Medical/Surgical Nursing is a good start because you learn how to prioritize your duties on a large Unit such as initiating IV's, Medical Assessments, Providing Nursing Care (Bedside Nursing) which help to develop your Care Plan (remember?-smile). You will also learn your medications, uses, and side effects, and practice within your scope of Nursing.
In Correctional Nursing, the inmates are very charming, cunning, and manipulate you as much as they can. The Autonomy you speak of is also great which can make it a bit scary because everyone will look to you to see if you were correct. I don't mean to scare you, because you may have much experience, and of course I do not know you at this time.
I am a Correctional Nurse (Certified with the National Commission) x 12 years, and felt comfortable in this field because I had many years of experience before I started.
I wish you the best in all you do. Thanks.

Sorry, I forgot to say that Correctional Nursing experience will be a great asset to your Resume because it helps to let others know that you are well-rounded in your Career