[SmallTexan]

Would it be possible for a new grad to work in a correctional setting ? or do they prefer nurses with experience ?

Thanks !

[Nurse Ratched]

Corrections, like psych, is often best entered after some more generalized nursing experience. The big thing with those two specialties is, as someone else here pointed out, you can't show fear. And when we are new nurses, we are all inherently fearful because of our inexperience.

Plus, your assessment skills have to be pretty top-notch as your patients often may not be the most truthful...

Side note: congratulations on becoming a nurse!

[sjoe]

I agree with Ratched.

[Wendy Psych RN]

I am a psych nurse that dabbled in corretional nursing. I want to say this. Correctional nursing (in the jail I worked at) is NOT nursing. I didn't consider myself a nurse while I was working there. Inamtes are the most disrespectful group of people I have ever worked with. I watched an old guy have a stroke and die right before my eyes in his cell and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it. I broke all facility rules and regs and got him out on a stretcher. He died 10 minutes after leaving the facility. I will never forget my experience there, but I would never recommend it to anybody.
If this is what you want to do, I wish you the best of luck.

[teeituptom]

Ive done some correctional mursing, I think a new grad with the right background can do it.

BTW where you from smalltexan

[Wendy Psych RN]

Samtexan-

I am from WV.

I wish anybody who tries it good luck. It is definitley not for me.

[psychonurse]

While it use to be that nurses had to have at least one years experience before coming to corrections, with the shortage we are taking nurses right out of nursing school. I am not to worried about the ones that have been LPN's for a while before gong back to school. I think that if you are a new RN coming out to work in corrections your preceptorship should be longer than an experienced nurse. I am not saying that nursing school doesn't prepare you, but the greatest part of our job is assesment and if you haven't seen enough of of certain things, you won't know what you were looking for. I mean I had been an CNA for 2 years, an LPN for 8 years and an RN for 2 years when I went to corrections I had never seen a veneral wart before.....it has been an experience......