Trying to get out of Correctional Nursing....

Specialties Correctional

Published

I graduated in May 2011 and it took me forever to get my current job living in Colorado. I started in January 2012 and can't wait to get out of prison! I am even moving out of state to Texas (DFW) in hopes of increasing my chances of getting a hospital job.

My background is as above, over 3 years CNA experience in a hospital (about 3-6 months of that was home care), and a BSN. I would love to be a L&D or Mom&Baby nurse but I doubt I have any chance. So once I move to Texas which jobs should I be looking for? Just Med-Surg? And will getting my ACLS really help me or what?

Just a heads up from a DFW new grad - many of us are giving up on being L&D/NICU nurses, me included. It was my dream to be a CNM, but the truth is the market here is so saturated that nurses are scrambling for whatever they can get. WIth 3 years experience though, you shold be able to get into Med/Surg easy a lot of hospitals here require ACLS, but some will give you up to 6 months to obtain it - I always say better safe than sorry. Parkland's nurse residency program allows experienced nurses to transition into new care areas, but you will be competing with new grads and we have a TON of nursing schools here, so those are in no short supply. Some places like HCA North Texas have stipend-paid training for L&D if you have a BSN and some experience, but there is no guarantee of a job after that. I think best shot honestly would be JPS, they hire nurses into OB triage with as little as 6 months acute care experience. I'm still unemployed, but am finally getting interviews now that I have passed my boards. Just didn't want you to think the market down here is all hunky-dory or anything. I am considering CN myself. I just applied with the Bureau of Prisons for the Women's facility here in FT. Worth, I figure it's somewhat women's health and maybe one day that experience will get me working towards my CNM. - you are welcome to PM me with any questions, I will try to help as much as I can - breaking into L&D is hard - we have to stick together :hug:

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Specializes in Labor & Delivery.

I did land a med-surg internship at an acute care hospital which will also be a full-time job after i finish the internship. I expect that will help me get into L&D eventually.

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I accepted the offer for correctional nursing, but I'm also worried about transitioning back into the hospital setting. I'm a new grad, and took the job because I could not wait any longer for a job offer. I really want to do telemetry, though. Any thoughts on if I'll be able to get a telemetry position in the near future with correctional nursing experience?

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I work for a hospital that accepts inmates. We usually get the fed inmates on the regular floors and state/county inmates have their own locked down correctional unit. I hate getting pulled to the correctional unit. The patients are not the problem but the staff especially the CO's! I hate when they tell me what to do. And I feel like I'm bothering them when asking to open doors. I don't have any freedom! I don't have any problem with the feds on the regular floors cause we can just walk in and out. And the fed inmates are more nice and seem more grateful (to me at least). One minor problem is (but I can tolerate) sometimes the guards tend to flirt with me. Does anyone else get that? I mean I have to admit, some of them are cute and can't resist. ;) haha

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I too would like to know what future options would be if I accepted a position in correctional nursing? What have you discovered?

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