[Doris Faye]

I am also in the process of completing my NP with the goal of working within corrections. I am curently working parttime as a RN in a 400 all male prison. I asked my supervisor (the Health Service Administrator/Director of Nursing) concerning employment opportunities upon my graduation and she almost jumped up and down and licked my face (she acted like my dachshund puppy)!!! She made the statement "I would love that and although we currently have a Doctor I would love to have you here fulltime as the nurse practitioner." She furthermore stated that the only reason why we currently did not have any nurse practitoners on staff is because she was unable to recruit any. I have also touched base with a couple of the state prisons here in my area and they were also very receptive to my being employed with them as a Nurse Practitioner. I think that I will attempt to go with the federal government however only because of the benefits...AND ONE DAY I WOULD LIKE TO RETIRE!!!!!!!!

[jmallenwood]

Well, good for you! I certainly applaud your enthusiasm. And I mean enthusiasm in the real meaning of the word! Certainly, the scriptural admonition is very clear!
I think NPs may be the very best providers for this group of people - inmates are, to a great extent, people who have not listened to, who have not had their concerns paid attention to and are in an environment which does not tend to bring out the best in them - and yet, of course, have all the same risk factors and illnesses that get the rest of us. Very often, there is a psychlogical overlay that calls for the best sorting out capabilities
we have.
What I found most difficult was the prevailing mindset of the (I hate to say it) nursing staff and the jailers that inmates are somehow less than human and don't deserve good care...
My wife is a therapist who works with-among others-addicts and HIV positive individuals. One of her clients will be enetering the system for a short time to serve a sentence for DWI. He is HIV + and on meds for many years. It is the policy of the local jail to refuse any meds brought in by inmates...I further know from working there and being on call, that the nursing staff may not pick up on his intake the fact that this man is on meds that need to be continued without break...the meds will need to be ordered from a local pharmacy and picked up and brought in...If there are several complicated intakes that day I can bet there will be a lapse...So, in this case, a sentence of a week may in fact be a death sentence...
I worked for a private for profit agency - PrimeCare Medical- which has a very strong but unwritten policy - " do the least you can". This was stressed to me several times and consequently, I no longer work there...all the worst aspects of managed care - be slow to refer out, always put off treating if you can and a very outdated inadequate formulary that did not meet the standard of care...
So, I wish you well; be strong and pay attention to that still small voice of calm.