EXACTLY, I HAVE SEEN ENOUGH SICK PEOPLE AND ENOUGH FAKERS TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE. I DO WANT TO KNOW THE CHARGES. IT DOES NOT HINDER CARE BUT ASSISTS IN UNDERSTANDING THE PATIENT/INMATE. IF THE INMATE COMPLAINS OF ANXIETY AND WANTS ANXIETY MEDS, THEN I FIND OUT THE INMATE IS A METH ADDICT, THIS GIVES MORE INSIGHT TO THE REAL PROBLEM. THE INMATE NEEDS TO BE INSTRUCTED ON THE SIDE EFFECTS OF METH RE: PARANOIA AND ANXIETY. THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT IF THEY HAVE BEEN HIGH FOR MONTHS, THEY WON'T LIKE BEING STRAIGHT AND ALL NORMAL RESPONSES WILL SEEM FORIEGN TO THEM. THEY NEED TO REALISE NORMAL RESPONSES DO NOT REQUIRE TREATMENT. ALSO, THEY NEED TO KNOW THAT JAIL IS NOT FUN BUT A TERRIBLE SITUATION AND NORMAL RESPONSES TO A TERRIBLE SITUATION ALSO DO NOT REQUIRE TREATMENT. THAT ALMOST ALWAYS MAKES THEM CALL THEIR MAMMA AND CLAIM THEY HAVE BEEN DENIED TREATMENT. OF COURSE THE MOMMA IS BROKEN HEARTED AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THE INMATE WANTS. ALSO, OTHER PEOPLE NEED TO REALISE, A JAIL IS A JAIL. IT IS NOT A HEALTHCARE FACILITY. THE RULES ARE DIFFERENT. THEY ARE NOT THERE BECAUSE THEY ARE SICK. THEY ARE THERE TO SERVE TIME FOR CRIME. MEDICAL TREATMENT IS AVAILABLE, ALL THEY HAVE TO DO IS ASK. DOES THE DOCTOR IN THE COMMUNITY GO TRACK HIS PATIENTS DOWN AND FORCE HEALTH CARE WHEN THE PATIENT DID'NT BOTHER TO SHOW UP? NO, BUT I CAN'T TELL YOU HOW MANY TIMES I HAVE BALLED OUT AN INMATE WHO LAYED IN HIS BUNK, SICKER THAN A DOG, INFECTING EVERYBODY ELSE AND NEVER SAID A WORD. HOPING HE WOULD GET SICK ENOUGH TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL. THEY WILL EVEN TAKE THE PUS FROM ANOTHER PERSON'S SORE AND TRY TO INFECT THEMSELVES WITH IT SO THEY CAN GET SICK ON PURPOSE. THEN THEY WILL WRITE THE STATE HEALTH DEPT AND MAKE A FORMAL COMPLAINT. THAT IS JAIL. THESE PEOPLE ARE CRIMINALS WITH CRIMINAL MINDS. ALSO, WHEN I GET AN INMATE WHO IS AN OBVIUOS MENTAL PATIENT WHO IS HELPLESS, THAT PERSON GETS EVERYTHING THEY NEED FROM ME AND THEN SOME. ANYONE WHO IS TRULY SICK GETS ALL THEY NEED FROM ME. THE ONES WHO CALL ME A ***** WERE THE FAKERS. IF THEY NEED DETOXED, THEY GET THAT, BUT THE DRUGS DON'T JUST KEEP FLOWING SO THEY DON'T HAVE TO COPE WITH BEING IN JAIL. [quote=crjnursewarrior]
Originally Posted by jamangel
Jamangel is right on here....good correctional nurses treat the patient, not the charge. What they are convicted of is IRRELEVANT to the treatment they get. Targa acts as if we actually treat them based on our opinions. This is simply not so. We are duty-bound, if nothing else, to treat illness and do no harm. We take an oath. We treat all inmates based on assessment of the facts and their actual NEEDS...again...NOT their WANTS. I have said this OVER and OVER. They ALL WANT 2nd mattresses and Oxycontin for their back pain, but NONE of them NEED that. If an inmate NEEDS a 2nd mattress or narcotic pain medication, they get it. This is based on the assessment of the doctor and the nurses working with him/her. We see these people on a daily basis. We have learned to weed out the garbage, to sift through the manipulation to see the REAL medical problems. This is something a good correctional nurse HAS to become adept at. 90% of the complaints you hear from inmates are garbage...trying to get something thaty don't really NEED. It is our job to differentiate between WANT and NEED. It is our job to see that the 10% who are NOT faking get what they really NEED. And they are given that. As I have said, I feel that the care inmates get is more than adequate, especially since they pay NOTHING for it. Just a few more rantings from my soapbox!!
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