[wright405]

I applied for a position as a pca at a prison here in Oklahoma. I was just curious, what exactly does a pca spend the day doing? I have worked a CNA for 3 years in alzheimers care. This would definately be a change in pace. Just curious what kind of things you would be doing? Thanks for any help.

[humglum]

Well you'll find out if you go in for an interview and facility tour. Ask a lot of questions. We don't have CNAs/PCAs at my facility but we do have a couple of CMAs (medication aides) -- they do the general population pill call and sometimes deliver KOP (keep on person, the medications inmates are allowed to keep in their cells) refills to the housing units.
It's funny, nursing has so many abbreviations -- I opened this threated expecting it to be about a PCA pump (patient-controlled analgesia)! Our inmates don't have those, not even in the infirmary.

[bbb3601]

I as well applied for a hospital aid at our local state ran prison hospital and had similar questions. This hospital is seperate from the prison. Has anyone worked in this particular environment. I was just wondering what kind of patients you serve?

[VegRN]

Originally Posted by humglum

Well you'll find out if you go in for an interview and facility tour. Ask a lot of questions. We don't have CNAs/PCAs at my facility but we do have a couple of CMAs (medication aides) -- they do the general population pill call and sometimes deliver KOP (keep on person, the medications inmates are allowed to keep in their cells) refills to the housing units.
It's funny, nursing has so many abbreviations -- I opened this threated expecting it to be about a PCA pump (patient-controlled analgesia)! Our inmates don't have those, not even in the infirmary.

The thought of inmates getting PCA (patient controlled analgesia) just makes me laugh. Our inmates get them in the infirmary at times when they have a solid medical reason for them. PCA's are a dream and goal for a good portion of our general pop inmates!