Inmate Workers and Medical Clearance

nurseT · Jun 3, 2005

:uhoh21: I work in a county jail. 200 I-M's. I would flip out if I had to allow I-M trustee in medical. We do not use trustees in medical dept. I do get involved in trustee hiring. The officers have a committee that is responsible for offender movement of any type ( Classification officers). They have to give me the list of potential trustees for medical approval. I fought hard for this. The I-Ms they were choosing were really inapproriate. I sent this message to the Commander one morning, " Inmate ####, Psycho... Gas huffer... Night time carwash attendant??? Medical dept has helpful info, and should be consulted. This particular I-M happened to be the biggest pain in the a**. I had this vision of him washing a cruiser and opening the gas cap... huffing his brains out and passing out on the floor, no one noticing until it was too late. Could you see the headline in the local paper now? I had this one who applied for trustee, he had been in my exam room begging for Narcs due to his "bad back" and telling me he was disabled. I fax for his records and discover he was a drug seeker at his FP's but he did indeed have degenerative disk disease. He got real mad when I did't approve him. Some of the gaurds and the Commander asked me why. They were more than satisfied with the results of my investigation. I didn't know what the I-M would have attempted, but most likely a law suit for a slipped disk after lifting something heavy and saying he felt he had to to keep his job and after all he was confined. And you can keep going. :crying2:

Blackcat99 · Jun 4, 2005

Why is it that inmates ask for an "excuse" so they don't have to go to their prison jobs? Usually they say they feel very sick or are in pain. The C.O.'s then tell us they see those same inmates out on the yard playing sports. :angryfire

ARNPsomeday · Jun 7, 2005

Why is it that inmates ask for an "excuse" so they don't have to go to their prison jobs? Usually they say they feel very sick or are in pain. The C.O.'s then tell us they see those same inmates out on the yard playing sports. :angryfire

Just a shot in the dark here, Blackcat, but what does an IM stand to gain by having "held a job while in prison" on his file?

psychonurse · Jun 8, 2005

Because in some systems work is programming and if they work that goes a long ways when they come up for parole. It is in the inmates best interest to have a job and be a responsible person.

In our state the inmate is examined both mentally and phsyically on intake to the system and determined if they can work or not and through all this testing it is determined what jobs they can have and not have. When they get to the facility that they are going to stay at they are placed on a work pool and when a job that is appropriate comes up they are placed in them. If they don't think that they need to work or they think they are to sick to work then they go to medical and try to get out of their jobs..It is a fun game that we play with them and most of the time we win, they either work or they are in segregation and that doesn't look good if they want to get out a little earlier. That is the way that medical is involved in inmates and thier work in our facilities.

BSNinTX · Jun 11, 2005

To answer your question, medical in our prison clears inmates for food service. Otherwise, we simply write restrictions based on medical conditions (i.e., no lifting over 20 pounds, no prolonged standing, no working with machinery for epileptics).

On a lighter note, has anyone besides me run into the following:

An inmate wants an excuse for work because "I have a cold," "my back hurts," "Im tired," and had to use all their self-control not to say: "When you were dealing drugs, did you call in sick?" Needless to say, my professionalism prevents me from saying it, but I still think it a lot.

To comment on the comment about why an inmate cares if he has a job:

In our prison, if an inmate doesn't work, we take care of that real fast for him. After all, inmates in segregation don't have jobs! Not working is refusing programming, and is an automatic disciplinary infraction, usually with loss of good conduct time credit.

nurseT · Jun 11, 2005

WOW, I WILL TELL THE INMATE WHAT I THINK IN CERTAIN CIRCUMSTANCES. WE HAD A FEMALE BOOKED IN THE NIGHT BEFORE( COUNTY), SHE WRITES ME A REQUEST STATING SHE IS MEDICALLY UNSTABLE AND HAD A HYSTERECTOMY JUST RECENTLY AND STARTS NAMING ALL THE PROBLEMS SHE COULD HAVE POST-OP, AND THAT SHE NEEDS HER PAIN MEDS ASAP. I LOOKED UP HER CHARGES AND SPOKE WITH THE OFFICERS. SHE WAS ARRESTED FOR PULIC INTOX,BATTERY, AND RESISTING. TURNS OUT SHE WAS OUT GETTING DRUNK AND GOT INTO A BAR FIGHT. SO I WENT TO THE CELL TO SEE HER AND LET HER GO ON AND ON ABOUT HOW UNSTABLE SHE WAS. THEN I SAID, LOOK, YOU LOOK GREAT TO ME, IN FACT, YOU HAD SO MUCH FUN LAST NIGHT, YOU GOT YOURSELF THROWN IN JAIL. I THEN TOLD HER IF SHE HAD A CURRENT PRESCRIPTION AT HOME, TO CALL SOMEONE WHO LOVES HER AND HAVE THEM BRING IT, THAT SHE COULD NOT USE THE MEDICAL DEPT. TO GET OUT OF JAIL.

To answer your question, medical in our prison clears inmates for food service. Otherwise, we simply write restrictions based on medical conditions (i.e., no lifting over 20 pounds, no prolonged standing, no working with machinery for epileptics).
On a lighter note, has anyone besides me run into the following:
An inmate wants an excuse for work because "I have a cold," "my back hurts," "Im tired," and had to use all their self-control not to say: "When you were dealing drugs, did you call in sick?" Needless to say, my professionalism prevents me from saying it, but I still think it a lot.
To comment on the comment about why an inmate cares if he has a job:
In our prison, if an inmate doesn't work, we take care of that real fast for him. After all, inmates in segregation don't have jobs! Not working is refusing programming, and is an automatic disciplinary infraction, usually with loss of good conduct time credit.